High fidelity interactive screenshots for mobile applications

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to mobile application development system providing high fidelity interactive screenshots for mobile applications developed using a cloud-based service. Particular aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a method for showing a sample screenshot of a user interface that closely resembles what users would see on a mobile device. The method may include determining a static layer of the user interface, determining an image representative of the static layer, determining a dynamic layer of the user interface, determining an image representative of the dynamic layer, and rendering the screenshot of the user interface based on a combination of the image representative of the static layer and the one or more images representative of the dynamic layer.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/865,959, filed Sep. 25, 2015, which claimspriority to and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/056,048, filed Sep. 26, 2014, the entire disclosures of whichincluding any Appendices are herein incorporated by reference for allpurposes.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all (copyright ormask work) rights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments are directed generally to an application development system,and in particular, to a mobile application development system providinghigh fidelity interactive screenshots for mobile applications developedusing a cloud-based service.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An application refers to a software program, which on execution performsspecific desired tasks. In general, several applications are executed ina run-time environment containing one or more of operating systems,virtual machines (e.g., supporting Java™ programming language), devicedrivers, etc., as is well known in the relevant arts.

Developers often use Application Development Frameworks (ADFs) (whichare by themselves applications) for implementing/developing desiredapplications. An ADF provides a set of pre-defined code/data modulesthat can be directly/indirectly used in the development of anapplication. An ADF may also provide tools such as an IDE (integrateddevelopment environment), code generators, debuggers, etc. whichfacilitates a developer in coding/implementing the desired logic of theapplication in a faster/simpler manner.

In general, an ADF simplifies development of applications by providingre-usable components and integrated development environments, whichapplication developers can use to define user interfaces and applicationlogic by, for example, selecting components to perform desired tasks anddefining the appearance, behavior, and interactions of the selectedcomponents. Some ADFs are based on a model-view-controller designpattern that promotes loose coupling and easier application developmentand maintenance. Oracle Application Development Framework is one exampleof an ADF that utilizes this design pattern.

Oracle ADF includes libraries of standards-based Java Server Faces (JSF)components with built-in HTML5 and Ajax functionality. With thesecomponents, web deployed user interfaces can be developed with a levelof functionality and interactivity previously reserved for thick-clientapplications. The components offer data interaction, data visualization,and encapsulated browser side operations in a set of easy to usecomponents that makes rich client application development easier thanever. Oracle ADF further provides a data-binding framework thatsimplifies binding UI to business services through a simple drag anddrop operations in the IDE. This is done while still keeping theindependence of the business service from consuming interfaces. With theframework, the UI developer is insulated from the underlyingimplementation of the business service layer. This makes the process ofbuilding the UI truly decoupled from the implementation of the businessservice layer, better positioning the application for implementation ina service-oriented architecture.

Accordingly, what is desired is to solve problems relating to highfidelity interactive screenshots for mobile applications developed usinga cloud-based service, some of which may be discussed herein.Additionally, what is desired is to reduce drawbacks relating to testingmobile applications developed using a cloud-based service, some of whichmay be discussed herein.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following portion of this disclosure presents a simplified summaryof one or more innovations, embodiments, and/or examples found withinthis disclosure for at least the purpose of providing a basicunderstanding of the subject matter. This summary does not attempt toprovide an extensive overview of any particular embodiment or example.Additionally, this summary is not intended to identify key/criticalelements of an embodiment or example or to delineate the scope of thesubject matter of this disclosure. Accordingly, one purpose of thissummary may be to present some innovations, embodiments, and/or examplesfound within this disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to a moredetailed description presented later.

A further understanding of the nature of and equivalents to the subjectmatter of this disclosure (as well as any inherent or express advantagesand improvements provided) should be realized in addition to the abovesection by reference to the remaining portions of this disclosure, anyaccompanying drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to reasonably describe and illustrate those innovations,embodiments, and/or examples found within this disclosure, reference maybe made to one or more accompanying drawings. The additional details orexamples used to describe the one or more accompanying drawings shouldnot be considered as limitations to the scope of any of the claimedinventions, any of the presently described embodiments and/or examples,or the presently understood best mode of any innovations presentedwithin this disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for developing applications thatuse mobile cloud services, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a computing environment to facilitatecommunication between a mobile computing device and enterprise computersystems according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a mobile application springboard in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a mobile application user interface inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a mobile application framework runtimearchitecture in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a system for developing mobile applicationsin a mobile cloud infrastructure in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of network components in a system for buildingmobile applications in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of mobile security suite components inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of a mobile application development portalthat may be included in an application development framework forcreating applications that use mobile cloud services of a cloudinfrastructure system of the system environment of FIG. 1 in oneembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a method for mobile application developmentin accordance with embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14A, and 14B are illustrations of one or more userinterfaces that may be presented by an application definition wizard ofthe mobile application development portal in one embodiment.

FIGS. 15A and 15B illustrate a user interface that provides a developerwith a set of screen types that define the first screen of the newmobile application in one embodiment.

FIGS. 16A and 16B illustrate a user interface that provides a developerwith a set of user interface elements specific to the type of screenselected previously in one embodiment.

FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate a user interface that provides a developerwith a set of designs specific to the type of screen selected previouslyin one embodiment.

FIG. 18 illustrates a user interface that provides a developer with oneor more options for finalizing details of the new application in oneembodiment.

FIG. 19 is an illustration of a user interface providing a catalog ofusable components in one embodiment.

FIG. 20 is an illustration of a user interface where a developer can addcomponents to a screen using one or more gestures in one embodiment.

FIG. 21 is an illustration of a user interface after a developer hasadded a map component to a screen in one embodiment.

FIG. 22 is an illustration of a user interface providing a catalog ofservices in one embodiment.

FIG. 23 is an illustration of a user interface where a developer can addcreate a UI module based on a selected business object in oneembodiment.

FIG. 24 is an illustration of a user interface after a developer hasadded a UI module in one embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a flow diagram of a method for determining a plurality ofuser interface layers of mobile applications in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a flow diagram of a method for generating high fidelityinteractive screenshots of mobile application in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 27 is an illustration of a user interface having composited layersin one embodiment.

FIG. 28 is an illustration of a user interface after a mobileapplication is available for deployment in one embodiment.

FIG. 29 is an illustration of a user interface after a mobileapplication is available for deployment in one embodiment.

FIG. 30 is an illustration of a user interface after a mobileapplication is available for deployment in one embodiment.

FIG. 31 depicts a simplified diagram of a distributed system forimplementing one of the embodiments.

FIG. 32 illustrates an exemplary computer system, in which variousembodiments of the present invention may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding ofembodiments of the invention. However, it will be apparent that variousembodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Forexample, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other componentsmay be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscurethe embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-knowncircuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shownwithout unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.The figures and description are not intended to be restrictive. Rather,the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide thoseskilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing anexemplary embodiment. It should be understood that various changes maybe made in the function and arrangement of elements without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims.

Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as aprocess which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flowdiagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchartmay describe the operations as a sequential process, many of theoperations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition,the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminatedwhen its operations are completed, but could have additional steps notincluded in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function,a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process correspondsto a function, its termination can correspond to a return of thefunction to the calling function or the main function.

The term “machine-readable medium” or “computer-readable medium”includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storagedevices, optical storage devices, wireless channels, and various othermediums capable of storing, containing or carrying instruction(s) and/ordata. A code segment or machine-executable instructions may represent aprocedure, a function, a subprogram, a program, a routine, a subroutine,a module, a software package, a class, or any combination ofinstructions, data structures, or program statements. A code segment maybe coupled to another code segment or a hardware circuit by passingand/or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memorycontents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc. may be passed,forwarded, or transmitted via any suitable means including memorysharing, message passing, token passing, network transmission, etc.

Furthermore, embodiments may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or anycombination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middlewareor microcode, the program code or code segments to perform the necessarytasks may be stored in a machine readable or computer-readable medium.One or more processors may perform the necessary tasks.

Systems depicted in some of the figures may be provided in variousconfigurations. In some embodiments, the systems may be configured as adistributed system where one or more components of the system aredistributed across one or more networks in a cloud computing system. Infurther embodiments, the systems may be configured as a single systemwhere one or more components of the system incorporated into a singlestructure or package.

Introduction

An application refers to a software program, which on execution performsspecific desired tasks. In general, several applications are executed ina run-time environment containing one or more operating systems (“OSs”),virtual machines (e.g., supporting Java™ programming language), devicedrivers, etc. Developers often use Application Development Frameworks(“ADFs”) (which are by themselves applications) forimplementing/developing desired applications. An ADF provides a set ofpre-defined code/data modules that can be directly/indirectly used inthe development of an application. An ADF may also provide tools such asan integrated development environment (“IDE”), code generators,debuggers, etc. In general, an ADF simplifies application development byproviding re-usable components which can be used by applicationdevelopers to define user interfaces (“UIs”) and application logic by,for example, selecting components to perform desired tasks and definingthe appearance, behavior, and interactions of the selected components.Some ADFs, such as “Oracle ADF” from Oracle Corp., are based on amodel-view-controller (“MVC”) design pattern that promotes loosecoupling and easier application development and maintenance.

Generally, many companies have expressed the need to allow theiremployees to access secure enterprise applications with mobile devicesfrom off-site locations, so that on-the-go employees can accessinformation that is stored on enterprise computer systems. With suchcapabilities, salespeople may work from the road, service techniciansmay look up parts while at a customer site, employees may work fromhome, etc. Some companies would also like to allow end customers toaccess data located in enterprise computer systems. Such access maydifferentiate a company from competitors by improving the customerexperience and lowering costs. For example, by implementing such access,a store may allow customers to remotely search store inventory for anitem and shop whenever convenient, thereby improving customer experienceand lowering the need for salespeople, operators, and other staff.

Different enterprise application vendors have traditionally fulfilledthis need by offering specialized portals in combination with eithercompany owned secure mobile devices or custom mobile applications.However, with the current explosion in the variety of available personalmobile devices, these traditional solutions quickly become obsoletesince vendors simply cannot keep up with all the latest OSs and hardwarethat become available.

Further, an application may need to connect and synchronize withdifferent enterprise computer systems depending on the application typeand/or the type of data used by the application. These enterprisecomputer systems may be supported by different backend computer systemswhich may also vary based on application type and data type. However,different backend enterprise systems may use different communicationprotocols and mechanisms to communicate data to devices, thereby causingmobile computing devices that run a variety of applications to encounterchallenges for communicating with different backend computer systemsthat support an enterprise computer system.

Yet further, security may become a concern in allowing access tointernal computer systems of an enterprise. The differences incommunication protocols supported between the mobile computing devicesand the enterprise computer systems may further complicate securityaccess management for communications between mobile computing devicesand enterprise computer systems. For example, different mechanisms maybe implemented to ensure authentication of an application to access aparticular enterprise computer system that has a proprietary securityprotocol. Some known systems have attempted to address this issues byconnecting off-the-shelf consumer mobile devices with backend enterprisesystems of companies. These devices may be configured with applicationsor OSs that connect to an enterprise network through special portalsdedicated to communication with enterprise backend computer systems.However, manufacturers of mobile devices, application developers, andenterprises may benefit from more flexible and robust techniques fordeveloping applications and connecting mobile devices to enterprisebackend computer systems.

In contrast to the known systems, embodiments of the present inventionprovide a declarative browser based client application development toolfor rapid business user friendly mobile application composition in a“cloud” service. In one embodiment, the cloud service is “Mobile CloudService” (“MCS”) from Oracle Corp. Embodiments allow for building mobileapplications using pre-defined templates that use the cloud service forbackend services, so that a service definition can be presented to adeveloper during application development to allow for rapid connectionbetween UI design and backend services.

MCS

In embodiments that use MCS, MCS facilitates communication between amobile computing device and enterprise computer systems via a cloudcomputer system. MCS uses a third party cloud based interface betweenmobile devices and an enterprise network of a company. The cloud basedinterface centralizes secure adaptors for various enterprise computersystems, and translates different protocols to a standardizedRepresentational State Transfer (“REST”) architecture. Companies can useembodiments of the present invention to create their own custom mobileapplications using available tools on MCS, and such applications can bedownloaded in native form onto mobile user devices. Once an applicationis installed, it can access the cloud based interface of MCS to reachvarious enterprise computer systems through the secure adaptors providedby MCS.

For application development in embodiments that use MCS, MCS providesbackend services under the Mobile Backend as a Service (“MBaaS,” alsoreferred to as “BaaS”) model. MBaaS allows Web and mobile applicationdevelopers to link their applications to backend cloud storage and APIsexposed by backend applications while also providing user management,push notifications, integration with social networking services, etc. Byusing backend services provided in MCS under the MBaaS model,embodiments provide a declarative Web-based UI configured for mobileapplication development by non-technical users with no familiarity withcoding.

In one embodiment, a wizard is launched when a user starts developing anew application, and the user is asked to give a name and descriptionfor the new application. Then, the user is asked to design the firstpage of the application by selecting from a set of pre-defined templates(e.g., tabs, bottom tabs, pagination, etc.) that can pre-seed the UI forthe first page. The UI is then completed by specifying details in thetemplate, while a preview is automatically updated to show the changes.Upon completing the UI design, the user can use a palette to browse acatalog of available services and data sources that are available to themobile application through MCS (e.g., a service catalog). For each itemof the catalog that is added to the UI, the user is presented with alist of attributes, and using one or more gestures (e.g., drag and drop,etc.) the user can bind the attributes to UI elements. The user canrepeat the process of feature definition and data-binding to create amobile application. Other UI components such as maps, graphs, etc., canalso be added to the UI. When the application is ready for testing, theuser may publish the application so that corresponding binaries arecreated (building native executables for iOS, Android, or any othermobile device OS), and a Quick Response (“QR”) code is subsequentlygenerated and provided to the user. If the user scans the QR code by amobile device, the application is installed over the air onto the mobiledevice.

Embodiments use pre-built components in an ADF. The components offerdata interaction, data visualization, and encapsulated browser sideoperations, and simplify rich client application development. ADF mayalso implement a plugin such as Apache Cordova plugin to access devicefeatures such as a camera, Global Positioning System (“GPS”), contacts,etc.

In one embodiment, when an ADF receives a request to build anapplication for a mobile device, it determines portions of one or morealready developed applications that have been precompiled using atoolkit, and modifies declarative information associated with thoseexisting applications. This embodiment then builds the requestedapplication based on the modified declarative information and one ormore binary artifacts of the existing applications by packaging thebinary artifacts representing the requested application for a desiredoperating system (“OS,” such as iOS, Android, etc.). The ADF thencompiles the requested application to generate one or more binaryartifacts and a set of definition files. In end-user development, anartifact is an application or a complex data object that is created byan end-user without the need to know a programming language.

Mobile Security

Some embodiments use security services provided by a mobile securitysuite such as “Oracle Mobile Security Suite” (“OMSS”) from Oracle Corp.OMSS is a mobile device and mobile application security solution thatprovides an employee-centric, comprehensive Enterprise MobilityManagement (“EMM”) solution and a consumer-centric mobile and socialservice. EMM provides mobile device management (“MDM”), mobileapplication management (“MAM”), mobile content management (“MCM”), andmobile identity policies by seamlessly tying to existing user identitiesand leveraging advanced features of the enterprise backend identitymanagement infrastructure for mobile access. Security policies, adheringto corporate needs, can be defined to enforce a complete device lockdown (typically for corporate owned devices) and/or to separate personalapplications from secure “containerized” corporate applications and data(for bring your own device (“BYOD”) cases). A mobile and social serviceprovides a software development kit (“SDK”) allowing corporatedevelopers to secure custom enterprise applications for iOS and Androiddevices, bridging the gap between mobile devices, social networks, andenterprise backend identity management infrastructure.

OMSS delivers a secure container to a mobile device for application andcontent security to separate, protect, and wipe corporate applicationsand data. All communication between the mobile device and enterpriseintranet resources goes through an authenticated transport layersecurity (“TLS”)/secure socket layer (“SSL”) tunnel (“AppTunnel”) thatcan only be used by vetted (or “containerized”) applications of themobile device. The AppTunnel is terminated at a Mobile Security AccessServer located at the corporate demilitarized zone (“DMZ”). This serveroffers secure Intranet access to mobile devices and terminates only theAppTunnel from the secure container, thereby lessening the risk of rogueapplications and the need for device level VPN.

Leveraging what is provided by an ADF, embodiments provide browser basedapplication development, which does not require coding and which easilymaps to business services. Embodiments also allow for previewing anapplication inline (e.g., as the application is being developed), aswell as editing, testing, and publishing an application from a browser.Accordingly, instead of an IDE such as “Jdeveloper” from Oracle Corp.that is configured for use by professional developers, embodiments areconfigured for use by business users (e.g., non-technical users).

Service Catalog

To support embodiments of the present invention that use MCS, MCSprovides access to an API catalog such as “Oracle API Catalog” (“OAC”)from Oracle Corp. OAC provides visibility to available APIs in anorganization so those APIs may be reused for application development.OAC includes a simple metamodel for an API asset, automation to populateOAC with APIs, and the ability for users to search OAC for APIs andunderstand the details of the APIs to assess their fit in theirapplications. OAC includes a harvester that creates API assets in OAC.In some embodiments, harvesting is performed at build time of projects.The harvester introspects deployed services and creates API assetsrepresenting services discovered in the project such as service orientedarchitecture (“SOA”) Services and Service Bus proxies, Web ServicesDescription Language (“WSDL”) based Web services, and Web ApplicationDescription Language (“WADL”) based REST services. The created assetsare collected in OAC.

After the API assets are created by the harvester, curators edit the APIassets using a simple editor to provide additional metadata tofacilitate the discovery and understanding of the APIs. Curators canchange the name, add a description, tag keywords, or add documentreferences to the API assets in OAC. This metadata simplifies discoveryand understanding of each API asset by a user. After the API metadata isedited, curators publish the API by making it visible to users in OAC.Published assets are available in the OAC console and via the OracleJDeveloper Oracle Enterprise Repository plug-in. Users can search OAC todiscover APIs and review the metadata provided by the curator to learnmore about an API.

Each OAC user is assigned a role which determines which OAC features andcontent are available for each user. There are predefined roles in OACincluding developer, curator, and admin. Users with the developer rolehave the ability to search OAC for published APIs, examine the APImetadata to better understand the API, declare interest in the API, andsubmit ratings and reviews for an API. In addition to the capabilitiesavailable to the developer role, users with the curator role can run theharvester to create new API assets in OAC, edit the APIs to update theirmetadata, and publish them. In addition to the capabilities available tocurators and developers, users with the admin role have access to anAdmin page in OAC to administer the infrastructure of OAC by editingsystem settings, creating new users, creating new departments, managingsessions, and using the import/export tool. Admins can also configuresecurity features included with OAC.

In some embodiments, an application may be developed and deployed to amobile device as either a native application or a hosted application.For native application deployment, a complete application is installedon the device. For hosted application development, a user needs todownload a hosting application from an “app store,” where such hostingapplication “hosts” the hosted applications that will be installed as“features” onto the hosting application. This embodiment may allow forupdating a running hosting application from a server, such thatdeclarative metadata can be sent to the device and overlaid on top ofthe existing application to update the application to run against thisnew metadata.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system environment 100 for developingapplications by using pre-defined templates that allow for use of MCS122 as backend services. A service definition can be presented to a userduring application development allowing rapid connection between UIdesign and backend services.

In the illustrated embodiment, system environment 100 includes cloudinfrastructure system 102 that provides cloud services to one or moreclient computing devices 104, 106, and 108. Client computing devices104, 106, and 108 may be used by users to interact with cloudinfrastructure system 102. Client computing devices 104, 106, and 108may be configured to operate a client application such as a Web browser,a proprietary client application (e.g., Oracle Forms), or some otherapplication, which may be used by a user of the client computing deviceto interact with cloud infrastructure system 102 to use servicesprovided by cloud infrastructure system 102.

Cloud infrastructure system 102 may have other components than thosedepicted. Further, the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is only one example ofa cloud infrastructure system that may incorporate an embodiment of theinvention. In some other embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 102may have more or fewer components than shown in FIG. 1, may combine twoor more components, or may have a different configuration or arrangementof components.

Client computing devices 104, 106, and 108 may be portable handhelddevices (e.g., an iPhone®, cellular telephone, an iPad®, computingtablet, a personal digital assistant (“PDA”)) or wearable devices (e.g.,a Google Glass® head mounted display), running software such asMicrosoft Windows Mobile®, and/or a variety of mobile OSs such as iOS,Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry 10, Palm OS, and the like, and beingInternet, e-mail, short message service (“SMS”), Blackberry®, or othercommunication protocol enabled. Client computing devices 104, 106, and108 can be general purpose personal computers including, by way ofexample, personal computers and/or laptop computers running variousversions of Microsoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh®, and/or Linux OSs.Client computing devices 104, 106, and 108 can be workstation computersrunning any of a variety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-likeOSs, including without limitation the variety of GNU/Linux OSs, such asfor example, Google Chrome OS. Alternatively, or in addition, clientcomputing devices 104, 106, and 108 may be any other electronic device,such as a thin-client computer, an Internet-enabled gaming system (e.g.,a Microsoft Xbox gaming console with or without a Kinect® gesture inputdevice), and/or a personal messaging device, capable of communicatingover network(s) 110.

Although exemplary system environment 100 is shown with three clientcomputing devices, any number of client computing devices may besupported. Other devices such as devices with sensors, etc., mayinteract with cloud infrastructure system 102.

Network(s) 110 may facilitate communications and exchange of databetween clients 104, 106, and 108 and cloud infrastructure system 102.Network(s) 110 may be any type of network familiar to those skilled inthe art that can support data communications using any of a variety ofcommercially-available protocols, including without limitationtransmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”), systemsnetwork architecture (“SNA”), Internet packet exchange (“IPX”),AppleTalk, etc. Merely by way of example, network(s) 110 can be a localarea network (“LAN”), such as one based on Ethernet, Token-Ring and/orthe like. Network(s) 110 can be a wide-area network and the Internet. Itcan include a virtual network, including without limitation a virtualprivate network (“VPN”), an intranet, an extranet, a public switchedtelephone network (“PSTN”), an infra-red network, a wireless network(e.g., a network operating under any of the Institute of Electrical andElectronics (“IEEE”) 802.11 suite of protocols, Bluetooth®, and/or anyother wireless protocol); and/or any combination of these and/or othernetworks.

Cloud infrastructure system 102 may comprise one or more computersand/or servers. These computer systems or servers may be composed of oneor more general purpose computers, specialized server computers(including, by way of example, personal computer (“PC”) servers, UNIX®servers, mid-range servers, mainframe computers, rack-mounted servers,etc.), server farms, server clusters, or any other appropriatearrangement and/or combination. In various embodiments, one or morecomputer systems or servers associated with cloud infrastructure system102 may be adapted to run one or more services or software applicationsdescribed in the foregoing disclosure. For example, one or more computersystems or servers associated with cloud infrastructure system 102 maycorrespond to a server for performing processing described hereinaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

One or more computer systems or servers associated with cloudinfrastructure system 102 may run an OS including any of those discussedabove, as well as any commercially available server OS. One or morecomputer systems or servers associated with cloud infrastructure system102 may also run any of a variety of additional server applicationsand/or mid-tier applications, including hypertext transport protocol(“HTTP”) servers, file transfer protocol (“FTP”) servers, common gatewayinterface (“CGI”) servers, JAVA® servers, database servers, and thelike.

In certain embodiments, services provided by cloud infrastructure system102 may include a host of services that are made available to users ofcloud infrastructure system 102 on demand, such as online data storageand backup solutions, Web-based e-mail services, hosted office suitesand document collaboration services, database processing, managedtechnical support services, and the like. Services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102 can dynamically scale to meet the needs of itsusers. A specific instantiation of a service provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102 is referred to herein as a “service instance.”In general, any service made available to a user via a communicationnetwork, such as the Internet, from a cloud service provider's system isreferred to as a “cloud service.” Typically, in a public cloudenvironment, servers and systems that make up the cloud serviceprovider's system are different from the customer's own on-premisesservers and systems. For example, a cloud service provider's system mayhost an application, and a user may, via a communication network such asthe Internet, on demand, order and use the application.

In some examples, a service instance instantiated by cloudinfrastructure 102 may include protected computer network access tostorage, a hosted database, a hosted Web server, a software application,or other service provided by a cloud vendor to a user, or as otherwiseknown in the art. For example, a service instance instantiated by cloudinfrastructure 102 can include password-protected access to remotestorage on the cloud through the Internet. As another example, a serviceinstance instantiated by cloud infrastructure 102 can include a Webservice-based hosted relational database and a script-languagemiddleware engine for private use by a networked developer. As anotherexample, a service instance instantiated by cloud infrastructure 102 caninclude access to an email software application hosted on a cloudvendor's Web site.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 102 may include asuite of applications, middleware, development service, and databaseservice offerings that are delivered to a customer in a self-service,subscription-based, elastically scalable, reliable, highly available,and secure manner. An example of such a cloud infrastructure system asembodied in cloud infrastructure service 102 is “Oracle Public Cloud”from Oracle Corp.

Cloud infrastructure system 102 may provide the cloud services viadifferent deployment models. For example, services may be provided undera public cloud model in which cloud infrastructure system 102 is ownedby an organization selling cloud services (e.g., owned by Oracle Corp.)and the services are made available to the general public or differentindustry enterprises. As another example, services may be provided undera private cloud model in which cloud infrastructure system 102 isoperated solely for a single organization and may provide services forone or more entities within the organization. The cloud services mayalso be provided under a community cloud model in which cloudinfrastructure system 102 and the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102 are shared by several organizations in arelated community. The cloud services may also be provided under ahybrid cloud model, which is a combination of two or more differentmodels.

In some embodiments, the services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 102 may include one or more services provided under software as aservice (“SaaS”) category, platform as a service (“PaaS”) category,infrastructure as a service (“IaaS”) category, MBaaS category, or othercategories of services including hybrid services. In some embodiments,the services provided by cloud infrastructure system 102 may include,without limitation, application services, platform services,infrastructure services, backend services, etc. In some examples,application services may be provided by cloud infrastructure system 102via a SaaS platform. The SaaS platform may be configured to providecloud services that fall under the SaaS category. For example, the SaaSplatform may provide capabilities to build and deliver a suite ofon-demand applications on an integrated development and deploymentplatform. The SaaS platform may manage and control the underlyingsoftware and infrastructure for providing the SaaS services. Byutilizing the services provided by the SaaS platform, customers canutilize applications executing on the cloud infrastructure system.Customers can acquire the application services without the need forcustomers to purchase separate licenses and support. Various differentSaaS services may be provided. Examples include, without limitation,services that provide solutions for sales performance management,enterprise integration, and business flexibility for largeorganizations.

In some embodiments, platform services may be provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102 via a PaaS platform. The PaaS platform may beconfigured to provide cloud services that fall under the PaaS category.Examples of platform services may include without limitation servicesthat enable organizations (such as Oracle) to consolidate existingapplications on a shared, common architecture, as well as the ability tobuild new applications that leverage the shared services provided by theplatform. The PaaS platform may manage and control the underlyingsoftware and infrastructure for providing the PaaS services. Customerscan acquire the PaaS services provided by cloud infrastructure system102 without the need for customers to purchase separate licenses andsupport. Examples of platform services include, without limitation,“Oracle Java Cloud Service” (“JCS”) from Oracle Corp., “Oracle DatabaseCloud Service” (“DBCS”) from Oracle Corp., and others.

By utilizing the services provided by the PaaS platform, customers canemploy programming languages and tools supported by cloud infrastructuresystem 102 and also control the deployed services. In some embodiments,platform services provided by cloud infrastructure system 102 mayinclude database cloud services, middleware cloud services (e.g., OracleFusion Middleware services), and Java cloud services. In one embodiment,database cloud services may support shared service deployment modelsthat enable organizations to pool database resources and offer customersa Database as a Service in the form of a database cloud. Middlewarecloud services may provide a platform for customers to develop anddeploy various business applications, and Java cloud services mayprovide a platform for customers to deploy Java applications, in thecloud infrastructure system.

Various different infrastructure services may be provided by an IaaSplatform in cloud infrastructure system 102. The infrastructure servicesfacilitate the management and control of the underlying computingresources, such as storage, networks, and other fundamental computingresources for customers utilizing services provided by the SaaS platformand the PaaS platform.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 102 may providecomprehensive management of cloud services (e.g., SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, andMBaaS services) in the cloud infrastructure system. In one embodiment,cloud management functionality may include capabilities forprovisioning, managing and tracking a customer's subscription receivedby cloud infrastructure system 102, and the like. In variousembodiments, cloud infrastructure system 102 may be adapted toautomatically provision, manage and track a customer's subscription toservices offered by cloud infrastructure system 102. A customer, via asubscription order, may order one or more services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102. Cloud infrastructure system 102 then performsprocessing to provide the services in the customer's subscription order.

In one embodiment, cloud management functionality may be provided by oneor more modules, such as order management and monitoring module 114.These modules may include or be provided using one or more computersand/or servers, which may be general purpose computers, specializedserver computers, server farms, server clusters, or any otherappropriate arrangement and/or combination.

In exemplary operation, a customer using client computing devices 104,106 or 108, may interact with cloud infrastructure system 102 byrequesting one or more services provided by cloud infrastructure system102. The customer may issue service request 134 cloud infrastructuresystem 102 using a variety of means. Service request 134 may includeplacing an order for a subscription for one or more services offered bycloud infrastructure system 102, accessing one or more services offeredby cloud infrastructure system 102, or the like. In certain embodiments,the customer may access a cloud UI 132, 134, 138 and place asubscription order via these UIs. The order information received bycloud infrastructure system 102 in response to the customer placing anorder may include information identifying the customer and one or moreservices offered by the cloud infrastructure system 102 to which thecustomer intends to subscribe. After an order has been placed by thecustomer, the order information is received via cloud UIs, 132, 134,and/or 138.

In this example, order management and monitoring module 112 sendsinformation received from a customer to an order database to have theorder placed by the customer stored. The order database can be one ofseveral databases operated by cloud infrastructure system 102 andoperated in conjunction with other system elements. Order management andmonitoring module 112 may forward information that includes all or partof the order information stored in the order database to an ordermanagement module. In some instances, the order management module may beconfigured to perform billing and accounting functions related to theorder, such as verifying the order, and upon verification, booking theorder.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 100 may includeidentity management module 114. Identity management module 114 may beconfigured to provide identity services, such as access management andauthorization services in cloud infrastructure system 102. In someembodiments, identity management module 114 may control informationabout customers who wish to utilize the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102. Such information can include information thatauthenticates the identities of such customers and information thatdescribes which actions those customers are authorized to performrelative to various system resources (e.g., files, directories,applications, communication ports, memory segments, etc.) Identitymanagement module 114 may also include the management of descriptiveinformation about each customer and about how and by whom thatdescriptive information can be accessed and modified.

In certain embodiments, cloud infrastructure system 102 may also includeinfrastructure resources 116 for providing the resources used to providevarious services to customers of cloud infrastructure system 102. In oneembodiment, infrastructure resources 116 may include pre-integrated andoptimized combinations of hardware, such as servers, storage, andnetworking resources to execute the services provided by the PaaSplatform and the SaaS platform.

In some embodiments, resources in cloud infrastructure system 102 may beshared by multiple users and dynamically re-allocated per demand.Additionally, resources may be allocated to users in different timezones. For example, cloud infrastructure system 102 may enable a firstset of users in a first time zone to utilize resources of the cloudinfrastructure system for a specified number of hours and then enablethe re-allocation of the same resources to another set of users locatedin a different time zone, thereby maximizing the utilization ofresources.

In certain embodiments, a number of internal shared services 118 may beprovided that are shared by different components or modules of cloudinfrastructure system 102 and by the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102. These internal shared services 118 mayinclude, without limitation, a security and identity service, anintegration service, an enterprise repository service, an enterprisemanager service, a virus scanning and white list service, a highavailability, backup and recovery service, service for enabling cloudsupport, an email service, a notification service, a file transferservice, and the like.

In certain embodiments, a number of external shared services 120 may beprovided that are shared by different components or modules of cloudinfrastructure system 102 and by the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102. These external shared services 120 mayinclude, without limitation, a security and identity service, anintegration service, an enterprise repository service, an enterprisemanager service, a virus scanning and white list service, a highavailability, backup and recovery service, service for enabling cloudsupport, an email service, a notification service, a file transferservice, and the like.

In various embodiments, external shared services 120 may include one ormore components that provide access, data transformation, automation, orthe like to enterprise computer system(s) 126. Access to enterprisecomputer system(s) 126 may be shared by different components or modulesof cloud infrastructure system 102 and by the services provided by cloudinfrastructure system 102. In some embodiments, access to enterprisecomputer system(s) 126 may be shared by service instances provided bycloud infrastructure system 102 that are restricted to one or moresubscribers.

In further embodiments, external shared services 120 may includeexternal application programming interface (“API”) services 128 that areshared by different components or modules of cloud infrastructure system102 and by the services provided by cloud infrastructure system 102.These external API services 128 may include, without limitation, APIsprovided by other third party services or entities.

Various different mobile cloud services may be provided by MCS 122 incloud infrastructure system 102. MCS 122 facilitates communicationbetween a mobile computing device and enterprise computer systems (e.g.,enterprise computer systems 124 and 126) according to some embodimentsof the present invention. MCS 122 may include one or more memory storagedevices (“local storage”) used to store enterprise data andauthentication information. Enterprise data may be received fromenterprise computer systems 126 or from client computing devices 104,106, or 108 or may include enterprise data converted by cloudinfrastructure system 102, or combinations thereof. Authenticationinformation may be received from identity management system 116 and/orgenerated by cloud infrastructure system 102. In some embodiments,authentication information may include information indicating securityauthentication of a user with regard to a request for a service.

Enterprise computer systems, such as enterprise computer systems 126 maybe physically located beyond a firewall of cloud infrastructure system102 at a different geographic location (e.g., remote geographiclocation) than cloud infrastructure system 102. In some embodiments,enterprise computer systems 126 may include one or more differentcomputers or servers. In some embodiments, enterprise computer systems126 may be part of a single computer system.

In certain embodiments, enterprise computer systems 126 may communicatewith cloud infrastructure system 102 using one or more differentprotocols. Each of enterprise computer systems 126 may communicate withcloud infrastructure system 102 using a different communicationprotocols. Enterprise computer systems 126 may support the same ordifferent security protocols. In some embodiments, MCS 122 may includean agent system to handle communication with enterprise computer systems126.

A protocol may include a communication protocol, such as SPeeDY(“SPDY”). A protocol may include an application protocol such as anHTTP-based protocol. In some embodiments, enterprise computer systems126 may communicate with cloud infrastructure system 102 using acommunication protocol such as REST or Simple Object Access Protocol(“SOAP”). For example, REST protocol may support a formats includinguniform resource identifier (“URI”) or uniform resource locator (“URL”).Enterprise Data formatted for communication using REST protocol may beeasily converted to data formats such as JavaScript Object Notation(“JSON”), comma-separated values (“CSV”), and really simple syndication(“RSS”). Enterprise computer systems 126 and cloud infrastructure system102 may communicate using other protocols such as remote procedure calls(“RPC”) (e.g., extended markup language (“XML”) RPC).

In some embodiments, MCS 122 may include an adaptor interface configuredto support communication with one or more services provided by cloudinfrastructure service 102, some of which may support differentprotocols or techniques for communications. In some embodiments, MCS 122may include an adaptor interface configured to support communicationwith enterprise computer systems 126, some of which may supportdifferent protocols or techniques for communications. MCS 122 mayinclude one or more adaptors each of which may be configured tocommunicate according to a communication protocol, a type of enterprisecomputer system, a type of application, a type of service, orcombinations thereof. A communication protocol supported by an adaptormay be specific to a service or one or more of enterprise computersystems 126.

In certain embodiments, client computing devices 104, 106, and 108 mayeach implement an application that can provide specific UIs tocommunicate with MCS 122. A specific UI may be configured to communicateusing a specific communication protocol. In some embodiments, specificUIs may include callable interfaces, functions, routines, methods,and/or operations that may be invoked to communicate with MCS 122.Specific UIs may accept as input parameters for communicating with aservice provided by cloud infrastructure service 102 or with enterprisecomputer systems 126 for enterprise data and/or to request a service. Insome embodiments, communication through MCS 122 may be converted forcommunication using a custom communication protocol. In someembodiments, specific UIs may correspond to a custom client in anapplication.

MCS 122 may include one or more callable interfaces, e.g., an API.Callable interfaces associated with MCS 122 may enable an application ona mobile computing device to communicate requests to MCS 122. Callableinterfaces associated with MCS 122 may support a common or standardinterface, which may allow requests including their parameters to bereceived from apps according to a standardized protocol, architecturalstyle, and/or format (e.g., a REST protocol). Callable interfacesassociated with MCS 122 may be configurable by a user of any one ofcomputing devices 104, 106, or 108. Callable interfaces associated withMCS 122 may receive requests for services according to a communicationprotocol. Device application developers can connect to MCS 122 for theircustom applications. In some embodiments, a callable interfaceassociated with MCS 122 may be configured by the same person thatdevelops an app, such that the person can implement a custom applicationto communicate with MCS 122.

Callable interfaces associated with MCS 122 may further enableenterprise computer systems 126 to communicate with MCS 122 according toa standardized protocol or format. Similar to application developers,those who manage enterprise computer systems can implement code (e.g.,an agent system) that is configured to communicate with MCS 122 via oneor more callable interfaces. Callable interfaces associated with MCS 122may be implemented based on a type of a computing device, a type ofenterprise computer systems, an app, an agent system, a service, aprotocol, or other criterion. In some embodiments, callable interfacesassociated with MCS 122 may support requests for services includingauthentication, compression, encryption, pagination with cursors,client-based throttling, non-repudiation, logging, and metricscollection. In some embodiments, callable interfaces associated with MCS122 may be implemented for custom business-related services, such asauthentication, policy enforcement, caching of responses, throttling ofcalls to MCS 122, translation between asynchronous and synchronouspatterns, logging of calls to underlying services, or combinationsthereof. In some embodiments, callable interfaces associated with MCS122 may enable users to load custom code for implementation by cloudinfrastructure system 102. The custom code may implement one or morecallable interfaces associated with MCS 122 for cloud infrastructuresystem 102, which can enable users to access custom services or otherenterprise computer systems.

Protocol translators associated with MCS 122 may process a message todetermine a communication protocol for a message and/or to convert amessage to a communication protocol for a destination. Protocoltranslators associated with MCS 122 may convert a request received fromclient computing devices 104, 106, or 108. The request may be convertedfrom a format of a communication protocol supported by client computingdevices 104, 106, or 108 to a format of a communication protocolsupported by a service provided by cloud infrastructure service 102 orenterprise computer systems 126. Protocol translators associated withMCS 122 may convert a response received from a service provided by cloudinfrastructure service 102 or enterprise computer systems 126. Aresponse may be converted from a format of a communication protocolsupported by a service provided by cloud infrastructure service 102 orenterprise computer systems 126 to a format of a communication protocolsupported by client computing devices 104, 106, or 108.

Security services associated with MCS 122 may manage securityauthentication for requests received from any of client computingdevices 104, 106, or 108. Security services associated with MCS 122 mayprotect the integrity of customer processes and enterprise data. Toprevent system or data from being compromised, security authenticationmay occur when a request is received from client computing devices 104,106, or 108. Security authentication may be performed before a requestis dispatched for processing by cloud infrastructure system 102. Thesecurity authentication determined for a user may enable a userassociated with a mobile computing device to have authorization torequest services via MCS 122. The security authentication may reduceefforts for a user to authenticate for different requests and/orservices requested via MCS 122. Security services associated with MCS122 may be implemented as one or more functional blocks or modulesconfigured to perform various operations authenticating security of arequest.

Authentication services associated with MCS 122 may manage securityauthentication for requests received from client computing devices 104,106, or 108. Authentication services associated with MCS 122 maydetermine security authentication for a user associated with a computingdevice that sends a request to MCS 122. Security authentication may bedetermined based on a time period, which may be tied to operation of anapplication (e.g., launching an application), a request, a computingdevice, an enterprise computer system, other criterion related to arequest, or combinations thereof. Security authentication may beverified and granted for any one of the following, such as an individualrequest, one or more enterprise computer systems, a particular service,a type of service, a user, a computing device, other criterion fordetermining security authentication, or combinations thereof. In someembodiments, cloud infrastructure system 102 may store authenticationinformation of users received from enterprise computer systems orauthentication systems supporting enterprise computer systems. Cloudinfrastructure system 102 may determine authentication by performing alookup function to determine whether an identity of a user associatedwith a request has authority to make such a request. The storedauthentication information may include information such as the type ofrequests, functions, enterprise computer systems, enterprise data, orthe like that a user may be authorized to access. In some embodiments,infrastructure system 102 may initiate communication with a requestingcomputing device to determine authentication.

In some embodiments, security authentication may be determined based ona role associated with a user requesting a service. The role may beassociated with a user requesting access to MCS 122. In someembodiments, a user may request services as a subscriber or tenant ofMCS 122 who may be granted access to resources and/or services providedby MCS 122. Authentication may correspond to a user's subscription toMCS 122, such that a user may be authorized to request services via MCS122 as a subscriber. In some embodiments, the subscription may belimited to a particular set of resources provided by MCS 122. Securityauthentication may be based on the resources and/or services accessibleto the user of MCS 122. In some embodiments, a request may beprovisioned a template during execution called a “runtime environment.”The runtime environment may be associated with resources that areallocated for a request, a user, or a device.

In some embodiments, authentication services associated with MCS 122 mayrequest an identity management system to determine securityauthentication for the user. The identity management system may beimplemented by cloud infrastructure system 102 (e.g., as identitymanagement 114) or by another computer system that is external to cloudinfrastructure system 102. Identity management 116 may determinesecurity authentication of the user based on the user's role orsubscription for accessing MCS 122. The role or subscription may beassigned privileges and/or entitlements with respect to an enterprisecomputer system, a service provided by an enterprise computer system, afunction or feature of an enterprise computer system, other criterionfor controlling access to an enterprise computer system, or combinationsthereof.

ADF

Various different ADFs 124 may be provided in cloud infrastructuresystem 102. ADFs 124 provide the infrastructure code to implement agileSOA based applications. ADFs 124 further provide a visual anddeclarative approach to development through one or more developmenttools (e.g., “Oracle JDeveloper 11g” development tool). One or moreframeworks provided by ADFs 124 may implement an MVC design pattern.Such frameworks offer an integrated solution that covers all the layersof the MVC architecture with solutions to such areas asObject/Relational mapping, data persistence, reusable controller layer,rich Web UI framework, data binding to UI, security and customization.Extending beyond the core Web based MVC approach, such frameworks alsointegrate with the Oracle SOA and WebCenter Portal frameworkssimplifying the creation of complete composite applications.

In certain embodiments, ADFs 124 make it easy to develop agileapplications that expose data as services by coupling a serviceinterface to built-in business services provided by cloud infrastructuresystem 102. This separation of business service implementation detailsis performed in ADFs 124 via metadata. Use of this metadata-drivenarchitecture enables application developers to focus on the businesslogic and user experience, rather than the details of how services areaccessed. In certain embodiments, ADFs 124 store implementation detailsof services in metadata in a model layer. This enables developers toexchange services without modifying the UI, making the applicationextremely agile. Additionally, the developer creating the UI does notneed to bother with business service access details. Instead, developerscan focus on developing the application interface and interaction logic.Creating the user experience can be as simple as dragging-and-droppingthe desired business services onto a visual page designer and indicatingwhat type of component should represent that data.

In various embodiments, developers interact with ADFs 124 to createmodules forming enterprise applications. The enterprise applications canbe executed within the context of cloud infrastructure system 102. Invarious embodiments, developers interact with ADFs 124 to create modulesforming mobile applications. The mobile applications can be executedwithin the context of cloud infrastructure system 102. Features of thepresent invention described below may be implemented using any desiredcombination of programming language and application developmentframework as will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant arts byreading the disclosure provided herein.

One or more frameworks provided by ADFs 124 may be embodied as OracleADF in one example. Accordingly, a framework in ADFs 124 can be based onan MVC design pattern. An MVC application is separated into: 1) a modellayer that handles interaction with data-sources and runs the businesslogic, 2) a view layer that handles the application UI, and 3) acontroller that manages the application flow and acts as the interfacebetween the Model and the View layers. Separating applications intothese three layers simplifies maintenance and reuse of components acrossapplications. The independence of each layer from the others results ina loosely coupled, SOA.

In various embodiments, ADFs 124 provide tools and resources allowingdevelopers to create an application in the form of multiple layers, eachlayer containing code modules/files implementing desired logic accordingto pre-defined specification. Thus, in one embodiment, ADFS 124 enablesthe application to be developed as four layers: a view layer containingcode modules/files that provide the UI of the application, a controllerlayer containing code modules that control the flow of the application,a model layer containing data/code modules that provide an abstractionlayer for the underlying data, and a business services layer containingcode modules that provide access to data from various sources andhandles business logic.

In certain embodiments, ADFs 124 let developers choose the technologythey prefer to use when implementing each of the layers. EnterpriseJavaBean (“EJB”), Web Services, JavaBeans, JPA/EclipseLink/TopLinkobjects, and many others can all be used as Business Services for ADFs124. View layers can include Web based interfaces implemented with JavaServer Faces (“JSF”), Desktop Swing applications and Microsoft Officefront ends, as well as interfaces for mobile devices.

In one aspect, the view layer represents the UI of the application beingdeveloped. The view layer can include desktop, mobile, and browser-basedviews, each of which provides all or a portion of the UI and isaccessible in a variety of manners corresponding to view type. Forexample, Web pages may be sent by the application in response toreceiving client requests containing corresponding URLs. The Web pagesmay then be displayed by a browser on a display unit (not shown)associated with a requesting client system, thereby enabling users ofthe requesting client system to interact with the enterpriseapplication. ADFs 124 support multi-channel access to business servicesallowing reuse of business services and access from a Web client, aclient-server swing desktop-based application, Microsoft Excelspreadsheets, mobile devices such as a smart-phone, or the like.

The code files/modules forming the view layer (such as Web pages) may beimplemented using one or more of hypertext markup language (“HTML”),Java server pages (“JSP”), and JSF. Alternatively, the UI may beimplemented using Java components such as Swing, and/or XML. As furthernoted, the UI may leverage a user's experience and familiarity withdesktop applications, such as Word and Excel by Microsoft.

As noted above, the relevant user-developed code/data modules areprovided in each of the layers. However, each layer typically containsother pre-defined code/data modules provided by ADFs 124. Some of thepre-defined modules may be used during development, for example, astemplates for developing the Web pages, for including desiredfunctionality in the developed code etc. Other pre-defined modules (suchas a URL rewriting module) may be deployed along with the developedapplication and may provide additional functionalities (mapping ofrequested URLs to internal names) to the user during execution of theenterprise application.

A controller layer contains code modules/files that control the flow ofthe application. Each controller object contains software instructionsand/or data implemented according to a desired manner of presentinginformation in the view layer. The desired manner may include thespecific Web pages to be displayed when links in another Web page areclicked/selected by the user, the page to be displayed when errors occurduring execution, indicating the specific data to be stored/retrieved,etc.

In one aspect, the controller layer manages the applications flow andhandles user input. For example, when a Search button is clicked on apage, the controller determines what action to perform (do a search) andwhere to navigate to (the results page). There are two controlleroptions for Web-based applications in JDeveloper: the standard JSFcontroller or the ADF Controller that extends the JSF controllerfunctionality. Whichever controller is used, application flow istypically designed by laying out pages and navigation rules on adiagram. An application's flow can be broken into smaller, reusable taskflows; include non-visual components such as method calls and decisionpoints in a flow; and create “page fragment” flows that run inside aregion of a single containing page.

The code modules/files forming the controller layer are oftenimplemented as Java servlets receiving the client requests and sendingdesired Web pages as corresponding responses. Controller objects mayalso be implemented, for example, as Apache Jakarta Struts controllersor according to the JSF standard.

A model layer contains data/code modules that connect various businessservices to the objects that use them in the other layers, such as tothe controller objects discussed above or directly to desktopapplications. Each abstract data object of the model layer provides acorresponding interface that can be used to access any type of businessservice executing in an underlying business service layer. The dataobjects may abstract the business service implementation details of aservice from a client and/or expose data control methods/attributes toview components, thus providing a separation of the view and datalayers.

In one aspect, the model layer consists of two components, data controlsand data bindings, which utilize metadata files to define the interface.Data controls abstract the business service implementation details fromclients. Data bindings expose data control methods and attributes to UIcomponents, providing a clean separation of the view and model. Due tothe metadata architecture of the model layer, developers get the samedevelopment experience when binding any type of Business Service layerimplementation to the View and Controller layers.

In certain embodiments, ADFs 124 emphasize the use of the declarativeprogramming paradigm throughout the development process to allow usersto focus on the logic of application creation without having to get intoimplementation details. At a high level, the development process for aFusion Web application usually involves creating an applicationworkspace. Using a wizard, libraries and configuration needed fortechnologies selected by a developer are automatically added and anapplication is structured into projects with packages and directories.

By modeling database objects, an online database or offline replica ofany database can be created, definitions edited, and schemas updated.Using a unified modeling language (“UML”) modeler, use cases can then becreated for the application. Application control and navigation can alsobe designed. Diagrammers can be used to visually determine the flow ofapplication control and navigation. Then, an underlying XML filedescribing the flow can be automatically created. A resource library canbe used to allow a developer to view and use imported libraries bysimply dragging and dropping them into the application. From databasetables, entity objects can be created using wizards or dialogs. Fromthose entity objects, view objects are created to be used by pages inthe application. Validation rules and other types of business logic canbe implemented.

In this example, a business services layer manages interaction with adata persistence layer. It provides such services as data persistence,object/relational mapping, transaction management, and business logicexecution. The business services layer can be implemented in any of thefollowing options: as simple Java classes, EJB, Web services, JPAobjects, and Oracle ADF Business Components. In addition, data can beconsumed directly from files (XML, or CSV) as well as REST. Thus, eachbusiness service manages interaction with a corresponding datapersistence layer, and also provides such services as object/relationalmapping, transaction management, business logic execution, etc. Thebusiness services layer may be implemented using one or more of simpleJava classes, Enterprise Java Beans, Web services, etc.

Business components represent a business service implemented using, forexample, “Oracle ADF Business Components” from Oracle Corp., to provideinteraction with databases, Web services, legacy systems, applicationservers, and the like. In one embodiment, business components of thebusiness services layer contain a mixture of application modules,view/query objects, and entity objects, which cooperate to provide thebusiness service implementation. An application module can be atransactional component/code module that UI clients communicate with forworking with application/transaction data. The application module mayprovide an updatable data model and also procedures/functions (commonlyreferred to as service methods) related to user transactions.

An entity object may represent a corresponding row in a database tableand simplifies the manipulation (update, deletion, etc.) of the datastored in the corresponding row. An entity object often encapsulatesbusiness logic for the corresponding row to ensure that the desiredbusiness rules are consistently enforced. An entity object may also beassociated with other entity objects to reflect relationships existingbetween rows stored in the underlying database.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a computing environment 200 forfacilitating communication between a mobile computing device andenterprise computer systems according to some embodiments of the presentinvention. For purposes of illustration, various examples are providedherein to describe techniques for enabling a mobile computing device(e.g., computing device 202) to communicate with one or more enterprisecomputer systems, such as a cloud enterprise computer system 240 (e.g.,“serviceprovider.com”) and an on-premises enterprise computer system250. Such communications may be to exchange or transfer enterprise data,request services provides by an enterprise computer system, communicatemessages, or combinations thereof.

Messages may include service invocation messages, result messages,request messages, other messages communicated internally, other messagescommunicated between a computing device and an enterprise computersystem, or combinations thereof. A message may include a message type(e.g., a type value from a set of shared type constants), a correlationid (e.g., an id used to correlate this message with one or more othermessages), priority information to support for priority based messagequeues, timeout, sensitivity indicator to support message dataisolation, message source (e.g., a uniform resource identifier of asender), a message destination (e.g., a uniform resource identifier thatuniquely identifies the destination, a request context (e.g., requestinformation from dispatcher), and/or a message payload. The payload mayhave different attributes depending upon the type of message that isbeing sent, such as parameter data and result data.

Enterprise data as described herein may include data received from anenterprise computer system, data sent to an enterprise computer system,data processed by an enterprise computer system, or combinationsthereof. The enterprise data may be distinguishable from data forconsumer applications and/or services. In some embodiments, for example,enterprise data may change based on application or use of the enterprisedata, whereas data for consumer applications (e.g., consumer data) mayremain static through use. In certain embodiments, enterprise data mayinclude or be associated with rules that indicate criteria for storing,using, and/or managing the enterprise data. For example, enterprise datamay be associated with policy information that indicates one or morepolicies for storing, using, and/or managing the enterprise data. Incertain embodiments, policy information may be included in enterprisedata. In certain embodiments, enterprise data may include dataprocessed, stored, used, or communicated by an application or a serviceexecuting in an enterprise computer system. For example, enterprise datamay include business data (e.g., business objects) such as “JavaScriptObject Notation”(“JSON”) formatted data from enterprise applications,structured data (e.g., key value pairs), unstructured data (e.g.,internal data processed or used by an application, data in JSON format,social posts, conversation streams, activity feeds, etc.), binary largeobjects (“BLOBs”), documents, system folders (e.g., application relatedfolders in a sandbox environment), data using REST techniques (referredto herein as “RESTful data”) (e.g., synchronization data made availableby REST endpoints), system data, configuration data, synchronizationdata, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, enterprise data mayinclude REST-formatted enterprise data. REST-formatted enterprise datamay include RESTful data. REST-formatted data may include data formattedaccording to REST techniques implemented by an enterprise computersystem. Configuration or synchronization data may include data used forsynchronization of enterprise data, such as versions, history,integration data, etc. Documents in enterprise data may include XMLfiles, visual assets, configuration files, media assets, etc. A BLOB mayinclude a collection of binary data stored as a single entity in adatabase management system, such as an image, multimedia object, orexecutable code, or as otherwise known in the art.

An enterprise computer system may include various computing systems thatare configured to operate for an entity or an enterprise. For example,an enterprise computer system may include one or more computer systems,such as an enterprise server computer (e.g., a back-end servercomputer), to handle requests for services. An enterprise computersystem may include applications and/or services, which can processand/or operate using enterprise data. For example, enterprise computersystem 250 may provide one or more services and/or applications formanaging or operating an enterprise. Services may include, withoutrestriction, customer relationship management (“CRM”), human capitalmanagement (“HCM”), human resource (“HR”) management, supply chainmanagement, enterprise communication, email communication, businessservices, other enterprise management services or applications, orcombinations thereof. Enterprise computer system 250 may include one ormore computer systems dedicated to providing one or more services. Insome embodiments, each different computer system providing a service maybe located on-premise of an enterprise or may be located remotely froman enterprise. In some embodiments, multiple different computer systemssupporting different services may be situated in a single geographicallocation, such as on-premises of an enterprise. In the example shown inFIG. 2, on-premises enterprise computer system 250 may include an HRsystem 254 and a CRM system 256, both of which may be locatedon-premises of an enterprise. In some embodiments, enterprise computersystem 250 may include or implement an agent system 252 to facilitate orhandle communication between cloud computer system 210 and one or moreenterprise systems 254, 256. Enterprise computer systems, such as cloudenterprise computer system 240 and on-premises enterprise computersystem 250 are described below in further detail.

The computer environment 200 may include MCS 212 implemented to operateas a secure intermediary computing environment that may facilitatecommunication between the computing device 202 and one or moreenterprise computer systems because computing device 202 may not beconfigured to communicate with such enterprise computer systems. Forexample, some enterprise computer systems may be supported by legacy orback-end computer systems. Such systems may be configured to operateusing different communication and/or security protocols. The protocolssupported by such enterprise computer systems may be different fromthose supported by mobile computing devices. MCS 212 may supportcommunication with different types of mobile computing devices. As such,MCS 212 may implement techniques to facilitate communication betweenenterprise computer systems and mobile computing devices to enable themto communicate with each other despite their incompatibilities incommunication, such as differences between formats or communicationprotocols. For example, MCS 212 may translate communication protocolsbetween mobile computing devices and enterprise computer systems.

Cloud computer system 210 may support MCS 212. Cloud computer system 210may be implemented using hardware, software, firmware, or combinationsthereof. For example, cloud computer system 210 may include one or morecomputing devices, such as a server computer. Cloud computer system 210may include one or more memory storage devices and one or moreprocessors. A memory storage device can be accessible to theprocessor(s) and can include instructions stored thereon which, whenexecuted by the processor(s), cause the processor(s) to implement one ormore operations disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the memorystorage devices may operate as local storage (e.g., cache). Cloudcomputer system 210 may include different kinds of operating systems. Amemory storage device may be accessible to the processor(s) and mayinclude instructions stored thereon which, when executed by theprocessor(s), cause the processor(s) to implement one or moreoperations, methods, or processes disclosed herein. The memory storagemay operate as local storage. Local storage may be implemented using anytype of persistent storage device, such as a memory storage device orother computer readable storage medium. In some embodiments, localstorage may include or implement one or more databases (e.g., a documentdatabase, a relational database, or other type of database), one or morefile stores, one or more file systems, or combinations thereof. Thelocal storage may store enterprise data.

In certain embodiments, cloud computer system 210 may include one ormore data stores, such as a metadata repository 224, diagnostics store226, and an analytics store 228. The data stores 224, 226, 228 may beaccessible by any component in cloud computer system 210.

Metadata repository 224 may store all the metadata associated with MCS212. This information may be composed of both run-time and design-timedata, each having their own requirements on availability andperformance. A tenant or subscriber of MCS 212 may have any number ofapplications. Each application may be versioned and may have anassociated zero or more versioned resource APIs and zero or moreversioned services implementations those resource API contracts. Theseentities are what the run-time uses to map virtual requests (mAPIs) tothe concrete service implementation (service). This mapping provides amobile developer with the luxury of not having to know the actualimplementation service when she designs and builds her application. Aswell as not requiring her to have to republish a new application onevery service bug fix. Metadata repository 224 may store one or morecallable interfaces, which may be invoked by a computing device (e.g.,computing device 202). The callable interfaces may be customizable by auser (e.g., a developer) of an application to facilitate communicationwith MCS 212. Metadata repository 224 may store metadata correspondingto one or more configurations of a callable interface. Metadatarepository 224 may be configured to store metadata for implementing acallable interface. The callable interface may be implemented totranslate between a one format, protocol, or architectural style forcommunication and another format, protocol, or architectural style forcommunication. Metadata repository 224 may be modifiable by anauthenticated user via the external network.

Diagnostics store 226 may store diagnostics information about processingoccurring in MCS 212. Diagnostics store 226 may store messagescommunicated via MCS 212 and log information. Analytics store 228 maystore logging and analytics data captured during processing in thesystem.

On behalf of MCS 212, cloud computer system 210 may utilize itscomputing resources to enable execution of custom code 216 (e.g.,operations, applications, methods, functions, routines, or the like).Computing resources may be allocated for use with respect to aparticular user associated as a subscriber or tenant to MCS 212.Resources may be allocated with respect to a user, a device, anapplication, or other criterion related to a subscriber. MCS 212 may bescaled in or out, depending on the demand of mobile computing devicesseeking to communicate with enterprise computer systems. MCS 212 can beconfigured such that it is elastic to handle surges and temporaryperiods of higher than normal traffic between mobile computing devicesand enterprise computer systems. In some embodiments, MCS 212 mayinclude elements that support scalability such that components may beadded or replaced to satisfy demand in communication.

Computing device 202 may communicate (e.g., send a request message) withMCS 212 to request service provided by an enterprise computer system.Computing device 202 (e.g., a mobile computing device) may beimplemented using hardware, firmware, software, or combinations thereof.Computing device 202 may communicate with enterprise computer systems240, 250 via MCS 212. Computing device 202 may include or may beimplemented as an endpoint device, a PDA, a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer, a mobile computing device, a desktop computer, a wearablecomputer, a pager, etc. Computing device 202 may include one or morememory storage devices and one or more processors. Computing device 202may include different kinds of operating systems. A memory storagedevice may be accessible to the processor(s) and may includeinstructions stored thereon which, when executed by the processor(s),cause the processor(s) to implement one or more operations, methods, orprocesses disclosed herein. The memory storage may operate as localstorage. Local storage may be implemented using any type of persistentstorage device, such as a memory storage device or other computerreadable storage medium. In some embodiments, local storage may includeor implement one or more databases (e.g., a document database, arelational database, or other type of database), one or more filestores, one or more file systems, or combinations thereof. The localstorage may store enterprise data.

In various embodiments, computing device 202 may be configured toexecute and operate one or more applications such as a web browser, aclient application, a proprietary client application, or the like. Theapplications can include specific applications configured for enterprisedata and/or services provided by an enterprise computer system. Clientapplications may be accessible or operated via one or more network(s).Applications may include a graphical UI (“GUI”) for operating theapplication.

Computing device 202 may communicate with MCS 212 via one or morecommunication networks using wireless communication. Examples ofcommunication networks may include a mobile network, a wireless network,a cellular network, a LAN, a wide area network (“WAN”), other wirelesscommunication networks, or combinations thereof. In certain embodiments,computing device 202 may establish a communication connection 214 withMCS 212 using a custom communication protocol (e.g., a custom protocol).Connection 214 may be established with MCS 212 through cloud computersystem 210. The custom protocol may be an HTTP-based protocol. Byutilizing a custom communication protocol, computing device 202 mayoperate on any computing device platform to communicate with cloudcomputer system 210.

Computing device 202 may communicate with cloud computer system 210through one or more callable interfaces, e.g., APIs. A callableinterface may be implemented on computing device 202. The callableinterface may be implemented for custom applications that enable thoseapplications to communicate with MCS 212. In some embodiments, acallable interface may be developed for MCS 212. The callable interfacemay enable applications to communicate with MCS 212 without having toadapt to differences in protocols (e.g., communication or developmentprotocols) and/or architectural styles or formats.

MCS 212 may be protected by one or more firewalls 204, 230 to provide asecure environment to process requests and execute custom code 216.Communication between computing device 202 and MCS 212 may be separatedby an external communication firewall 204. Firewall 204 may be connectedwith cloud computer system 210 to facilitate secure access to MCS 212.Firewall 204 may permit communication of messages between cloud computersystem 210 and computing devices (e.g., computing device 202). Suchmessages (e.g., HTTP messages or REST messages) may conform to acommunication protocol (e.g., HTTP or REST), which may be supported by acallable interface. In another example, a message between cloud computersystem 210 and computing device 202 may conform to a communicationprotocol such as SPDY. MCS 212 may manage firewall 230 to securecommunication between cloud computer system 210 and enterprise computersystems 240, 250. Firewall 230 may permit communication of messagesbetween cloud computer system 210 and computing devices (e.g., computingdevice 202). Such messages (e.g., SPDY messages, HTTP messages or RESTmessages) may conform to a communication protocol (e.g., SPDY, HTTP, orREST). Communication between computing device 202 and enterprisecomputer systems 240, 250 may be two-way via MCS 212.

Because communication with computing device 202 and enterprise computersystems 240, 250 may occur via an unsecure, public network, firewalls204, 230 provide an added layer of protection for communications to andfrom MCS 212. Firewalls 204, 230 may enable MCS 212 to distinguish itsinternal network from an external network connecting computing device202 and enterprise computer systems 240, 250. In some embodiments,firewalls 204, 230, although shown as two distinct firewalls, may beimplemented as a single firewall that encapsulates MCS 212.

Cloud computer system 210 may further operate as an intermediarycomputing environment by communicating with enterprise computer systems,some of which may have different communication protocols. Suchcommunication protocols may be custom or specific to an application orservice in communication with cloud computer system 210. Further, cloudcomputer system 210 may communicate with an enterprise computer systemto provide enterprise services and/or to exchange enterprise dataaccording to a format supported by the enterprise computer system. Cloudcomputer system 210 may maintain local storage (e.g., local cache) ofenterprise data and may use the local storage to manage synchronizationof the enterprise data between mobile computing devices and enterprisecomputer systems 240, 250.

Computing device 202 may communicate (e.g., send a request message) withMCS 212 to request service provided by an enterprise computer system.Requests that are received through firewall 204 may be processed firstby security service 232. Security service 232 may manage securityauthentication for a user associated with a request. Thus, a cloudcomputer system may provide technical advantages that include providingsecurity mechanisms described herein which may protect the integrity ofcustomer communications and enterprise data. Technical advantages ofcloud computer system may include preventing or reducing compromisedcommunications and/or data from being compromised, authentication mayoccur initially, restricting access to only those who have the requiredcredentials. Technical advantages of cloud computer system may includethe services and service invocation flow being structured such that asrequests come in they may only be able to access services for which theyare authorized. By decoupling authorization from the rest of the systemprocessing, another technical advantage may include the task ofauthorizing “what can be done by whom” being delegated to a dedicatedprovisioned security subsystem (e.g., an identity management system)that may be expanded to support whatever additional custom securitymeasures are required by a specific corporate customer. In someembodiments, security authentication may be determined for a request, asession, a user, a device, other criterion related to the user, orcombinations thereof. Security authentication may be performed for eachrequest that is received. In some embodiments, security service 232 maydetermine authentication based on a previous verification of a request.Security authentication may be determined for a user or a device suchthat requests to different enterprise computer systems 240, 250 may beauthenticated based on a single verification of security.

Further technical advantages of the invention may include a cloudcomputer system enabling a computing device to communicate with variousenterprise computer systems, some of which may be implementeddifferently. For example, a computing device 202, cloud computer system210, and enterprise computer system 250 may be located at differentgeographical locations, physically separated from each other. Therefore,computing device 202 can communicate with enterprise computer system 250regardless of their location. Technical advantages may include a cloudcomputer system enabling a computing device to communicate requests forservices to enterprise computer systems, which may support one or moredistinct security protocols. In some cases, an enterprise computersystem may be supported by a back-end system that is not easilyadaptable to a different security protocol. In some cases, it may bedesirable for developers of applications to be able to implement anapplication to be able to request services without knowledge of suchsecurity protocols. It may be equally desirable for a user (e.g., anadministrator or an architect) of an enterprise computer system to beable to receive requests without accommodating for different types ofapplications, security protocols, and standards. Technical advantagesmay enable such desires to be met by implementation of a cloud computersystem, as described herein, which can handle security authentication,such that requests can meet the security measures of differententerprise computer systems that are being requested.

In some embodiments, security service 232 may determine a securityprotocol for a requested enterprise computer system and accordinglygenerate a security token according to such security protocol. Thesecurity token may be passed along with a request to an enterprisecomputer system to enable that enterprise computer system to verifyauthentication based on the generated security token. Enterprisecomputer systems may support different security protocols. A securityprotocol may be a standard by which security is determined. Security maybe verified based on a security token that is generated by securityservice 232. Security service 232 may determine a security protocol foran enterprise computer system identified for a request. In someembodiments, an enterprise computer system 250 may have an agent system252, which may be configured or implemented according to a custom orspecific security protocol supported by MCS 212. As such, MCS 212 maygenerate a security token according to such custom security protocol.

Cloud computer system 210 may include, implement, and/or communicatewith one or more load balancer systems 206, 208. Upon determiningsecurity authentication, cloud computer system 210 may request any oneof load balancer systems 206, 208 to examine a request that it receivesand to detect which service the request is directed to. MCS 212 may beconfigured with load balancers 206, 208 and updated with resources thatget started up, so that when a request comes in, load balancers 206, 208can balance a requested load across the different resources.

Cloud computer system 210 may include a dispatcher 218 that may handlerequests and dispatch them to the appropriate service. A request may berouted to an appropriate service upon dispatch. In some embodiments, aservice itself may route an internal request to another internal servicein MCS 212 or in an enterprise computer system. In some embodiments,dispatcher 218 may resolve a request to determine its destination basedon a location (e.g., an address) of a destination identified in a URIand/or URL of the request. Dispatcher 218 may parse a request and itsheader to extract one or more of the following information: tenantidentifier, service identifier, application name, application version,request resource, operation and parameters, etc. Dispatcher 218 can usethe parsed information to perform a lookup in metadata repository 224.Dispatcher 218 may retrieve a corresponding application metadata.Dispatcher 218 may determine the target service based on the requestedresource and the mappings in the metadata. While initially a very basicmapping, the metadata can be enhanced to provide for more sophisticated,rules-based dispatching. Dispatcher 218 may perform anydispatcher-specific logging, metrics gathering, etc. Dispatcher 218 maythen perform initial authorization according to the applicationmetadata. Dispatcher 218 may format the inbound request and any othernecessary information and place the message on routing bus 220 forfurther processing. Dispatcher 218 may place a request on a queue andawait the corresponding response. Dispatcher 218 may process responsesreceived from routing bus 220 and return a response to computing device202.

In addition to handling the dispatching for external requests,dispatcher 218 may also play a role in dispatching internal requests.Such internal requests can come in the form of composite services orcustom code invocations to services. In both cases, the caller could usea logical service name as defined within the application. Dispatcher 218may use the current execution context to determine the application anduse that logical name to determine the appropriate service to invoke.

Cloud computer system 210 may include a routing bus 220 to managedeliver of messages to destinations registered with routing bus 220.Routing bus 220 may operate as a central system for managingcommunications in cloud service 212. Data communicated through routingbus 220 may be processed to capture and store the data. Routing bus 220may provide a framework so that additional centralized services(additional authorization, debugging, etc.) can be plugged in easily asnecessary. Data captured by routing bus 220 may be stored in diagnosticsstore 226 and/or analytics store 228.

Routing bus 220 may route messages to one or more destinations. In someembodiments, a message may include a request to execute custom code 216.In such embodiments, routing bus 220 may request 234 custom code 216 tobe invoked. In some embodiments, routing bus 220 may pass on a requestto a destination enterprise computer system identified by information ina request. Routing bus 220 may request 236 an adaptor interface 222 toperform translations, if necessary, to pass a request to an enterprisecomputer system, e.g., enterprise computer system 240 or enterprisecomputer system 250.

In certain embodiments, cloud computer system 210 may include orimplement adaptor interface 222 to translate or convert a message to aprotocol supported by a receiving enterprise computer system. Adaptorinterface 222 may establish separate communication connections with eachof enterprise computer systems 240, 250. Cloud computer system 210 maybe configured to communicate with enterprise computer systems 240, 250via one or more networks (not shown). Examples of communication networksmay include the Internet, a mobile network, a public network, a wirelessnetwork, a cellular network, a LAN, a WAN, other communication networks,or combinations thereof. In certain embodiments, communicationconnections may be high-speed communication connections facilitatedusing high-speed communication trunks. Communication with an enterprisecomputer system 240, 250 may pass through firewall 230 which ensuresthat communication with an external network is secure to preventunauthorized access to MCS 212 via such communications.

In some embodiments, cloud computer system 210 may facilitatenotifications to a user of computing device 202. Cloud computer system210 may include an alert management service that supports statefulinteraction with a user, for example to deliver an alert based on userpreferences through one or more channels, wait for a response, and takeaction based on the response. Responses to an alert sent on one channelmay be received through another channel, which the service needs to beable to handle. The platform may come with built-in state models forpopular interaction patterns and be extensible with new state models.Some alert channels may include known communication resources, eitherone-way or two-way. Examples include SMS, Twitter®, push notifications,and Google Cloud Messaging®.

In some embodiments, cloud computer system 210 may enable computingdevice to access and/or request one or more services, such as an objectstore service, database service, access web services, social services,resource services, or combinations thereof.

Cloud computer system 210 may provide an object store service that mayprovide a storage facility for BLOBs. The basic unit of storage can betext, with read and write operations. A basic query facility for JSONobjects may also be offered.

Cloud computer system 210 may provide a database service to allow forconnectivity to hosted databases for performing queries or writes.Required parameterization may require the full connection string for thedatabase, the SQL string or stored procedure to execute, any parametersand possibly credentials. The necessary information can be provided atrun time or be pre-configured in the application metadata.

Cloud computer system 210 may provide access to web services such asSOAP web services. Cloud computer system 210 may provide access to RESTservices, such as connectivity to arbitrary REST resources.

Cloud computer system 210 may provide access to social services that mayprovide basic integration with many of the popular social sites such asFacebook®, Twitter®, etc. These services may allow for third partyauthentication using the user's credentials from those sites as well asaccess to their services. Examples include sending a tweet or updatingyour status.

Cloud computer system 210 may provide an public cloud service to enablea user to simplify and optimize communication. For example, a servicedeveloper may use the generic web service of MCS 212 to talk to aresource hosted using cloud computer system's 210 cloud service.

A cloud computer system, such as one described herein, may enable mobilecomputing devices to communicate with enterprise computer system despitedifferences in computing resources. A cloud computer system may beequipped with more resources and a faster, more reliable connection toenterprise computer systems to communicate frequently to receiveenterprise data. The cloud computer system may manage and coordinaterequests for services from enterprise computer systems. By translatingrequests to a protocol supported by a recipient of a message, the cloudcomputer system reduces a burden on developers to configure applicationsfor communication with different types of back-end computer systems.Enterprises are able to maintain their back-end systems without havingto accommodate advances or changes in communication protocols supportedfor mobile devices. Different enterprise computer systems may supportdifferent security protocols based on a type of requests processed andservices provided. By managing security authentication in a centralizedmanner for access to different enterprise computer systems, enterprisecomputer systems do not need to adapt to differences in securityprotocols. By authenticating a user of the cloud computer system,processing requests can become more efficient as authentication may notbe performed in every instance.

In some embodiments, an application may be deployed under a mobileapplication framework (“MAF”) that provides built in security to controlaccess to the application and ensure encryption of sensitive data, suchas Oracle MAF from Oracle Corp. MAF is a hybrid mobile architecture thatuses HTML5 and Cascading Style Sheets (“CSS”) (to render the UI in theweb view), Java (for the application business logic), and Apache Cordova(to access device features such as GPS activities and e-mail). BecauseMAF uses these cross-platform technologies, the same application can bebuilt for both Android and iOS devices without having to use anyplatform-specific tools. After an application is deployed to a device,it behaves as applications created using such platform-specific tools asObjective C or the Android SDK. Further, MAF allows for building thesame application for smartphones or for tablets, thereby allowing reuseof business logic in the same application and target various types ofdevices, screen sizes, and capabilities.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example mobile application springboard 300 thatincludes a MAF application called “WorkBetter” that is deployed as a“heavy” application (e.g., a mobile application that sits in a mobiledevice in the same manner as a normal iPhone app obtained from the Appstore). A MAF application may include one or more embedded applicationsadded as application features. Such added application features arerepresented as icons within the main application's springboard ornavigation bar. Application features are essentially the building blocksof such mobile application. Each application feature that is integratedinto a MAF application performs a specific set of tasks. Applicationfeatures can be grouped together to complement each other'sfunctionality. For example, an application feature that providescustomer contacts may be paired with one for product inventory. Becauseeach application feature has its own class loader and web view,application features are independent of one another, thus a single MAFapplication can be assembled from application features created byseveral different development teams. Application features can also bereused in other MAF applications. A MAF application itself can be reusedas the base for another application, allowing independent softwarevendors (“ISVs”) to create applications that can be configured byspecific customers.

In addition to hybrid mobile applications that run locally on thedevice, application features may be implemented as any of the followingmobile application types, depending on the requirements of a mobileapplication and available resources:

-   -   Mobile web applications hosted on a server. For these        applications, although the code can be portable between        platforms, access to device features and local storage can be        limited, as these applications are governed by the device's        browser.    -   Native applications authored in either Xcode or through the        Android SDK and therefore limited in terms of serving both        platforms. Reuse of code is likewise limited.

MAF supports authentication and access control for refined security atthe feature level in an application where a developer can specifyappropriate login server, e.g., a server running “Oracle IdentityManagement” and/or “Oracle WebLogic” with basic authentication, a serversupporting OAuth protocols, etc. At runtime users are presented withlogin screens and appropriate tokens are accessible for further Webservice calls. With MAF, developers can build single UIs that meet theneeds of users with different privileges (e.g., show/hide componentsbased on user role or privilege).

MAF enforces communication encryption using SSL/TLS (HTTP secure(“HTTPS”)), on-device encryption to keep credentials in an encrypted keystore to be use for validation when supporting offline authentication,and SQLite database encryption by using the SQLite encryption extension.Encrypting a SQLite database for an application built with MAF may beperformed via a configuration option when the application is developed.In some embodiments, MAF supports offline and online modes of operationfor an application so a self-contained application can run on a mobiledevice in connected and disconnected modes. For data access/storage,such application may leverage a local encrypted SQLite database. Theapplication may be built such that initial access to data is performedfrom remote servers through Web services, and the data is then stored inthe local SQLite database for offline access. The data can be replicatedand synchronized to the server when connectivity is available again. MAFalso supports local storage of user authentication credential to enableoffline authentication/authorization to secured applications.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an HR mobile application UI 302 in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention. UI 302 may be provided uponopening an icon on a springboard such as mobile application springboard300 of FIG. 3. In FIG. 3A, UI 302 includes various HR relatedinformation about an employee, such as picture, title, contactinformation, social networking information, performance/ratinginformation, compensation information, manager, skills, location, etc.FIG. 3B indicates various sources where the information in UI 302 may beobtained from, such as services located on premise or in the cloud. Forexample, basic employee information may be obtained from on premise coreHR services such as PeopleSoft, Systems, Applications & Products(“SAP”), etc., while location information is obtained from a map servicesuch as Google. Similarly, performance information may be obtained froma talent management cloud service such as TALEO, and social networkinginformation (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) may be obtainedfrom the web. In one embodiment, the information from these varioussources is channeled through MCS before being sent down to theapplication on the mobile device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an example MAF runtime architecture 400including a “thin” native container which is deployed to a device.Runtime architecture 400 represents the MVC development approach whichseparates the presentation from the model layer and the controllerlogic. The thin native container allows the MAF application to functionas a native application on different platforms (e.g., iOS, Android,etc.) by interacting with the local SQLite database, the Cordova API,and server-side resources. It also enables push notifications.

The device native container includes Web View that uses a mobiledevice's web engine to display and process web-based content. In a MAFapplication, Web View delivers the UI by rendering the applicationmarkup as HTML 5. The UI may be created for a mobile application featureby implementing any of the following content types: MAF ApplicationMobile XML (“AMX”) Views, Controller, Server HTML, or Local HTML.Application features implemented from various content types can coexistwithin the same mobile application and can also interact with oneanother.

Applications whose contents are implemented as MAF AMX views reside onthe device and provide the most authentic device-native user experience,similar to an application authored in the language specific to thedevice's platform. MAF provides a set of code editors that enable a userto declaratively create a UI from components that are tailored to theform factors of mobile devices. These components can be used to createthe page layout (e.g., list view) as well as input components (e.g.,input fields). When a user develops MAF AMX views, the user can leveragedata controls. These components enable the user to declaratively createdata-bound UI components and access a Web service and the services of amobile device (e.g., camera, GPS, or e-mail). At runtime, the JavaScriptengine in the Web View renders MAF AMX view definitions into HTML5 andJavaScript.

For applications whose contents are implemented as Controller, thecontroller governs the flow between pages in the mobile application. TheController enables a user to break an application's flow into smallerreusable task flows and include non-visual components such as methodcalls and decision points.

For applications whose contents are implemented as Server HTML, the UIis delivered from server-generated Web pages that can open within theapplication feature's Web View. Within the context of MAF, this contenttype is referred to as remote URL. The resources for these browser-basedapplications do not reside on the device. Instead, the UI, page flowlogic, and business logic are delivered from a remote server. When oneof these remotely hosted Web applications is allowed to open within theWeb View, it can use the Cordova JavaScript APIs to access anydesignated device-native feature or service, such as the camera or GPScapabilities. When implementing an application using the remote URLcontent, a user can leverage an existing browser-based application thathas been optimized for mobile use, or use one that has been writtenspecifically for a specific type of mobile device. For applications thatcan run within the browsers on either desktops or tablets, the user canimplement the remote URL content using applications created through richclient-based components such as those provided by “Oracle ADF Faces”from Oracle Corp. For applications specifically targeted to mobilephones, the remote URL content can be delivered from Web pages createdusing MAF. Not only can applications authored with MAF render on avariety of smartphones, but they can gracefully degrade to the reducedcapabilities available on feature phones through UIs constructed withApache Trinidad JSF components and dynamically selected style sheets.Because the content is served remotely, the application is availableonly as long as the server connection remains active.

For applications whose contents are implemented as Local HTML, HTMLpages run on the device as part of the MAF application. Local HTML filescan access device-native features services through the Cordova andJavaScript APIs.

The device native container further includes the Apache Cordova. ApacheCordova JavaScript APIs that integrate the device's native features andservices into a mobile application. Although a user can access theseAPIs programmatically from Java code (or using JavaScript whenimplementing a MAF mobile application as local HTML), the user can adddevice integration declaratively when creating MAF AMX pages because MAFpackages these APIs as data controls.

The device native container further includes a Java Virtual Machine(“JVM”). Java provides a Java runtime environment for a MAF application.This JVM is implemented in device-native code, and is embedded (orcompiled) into each instance of the MAF application as part of thenative application binary. The JVM is based on the JavaME ConnectedDevice Configuration (“CDC”) specification. In runtime architecture 400,JVM includes business logic, model and JDBC. Java enables the businesslogic in MAF applications. Managed Beans (“MBeans”) are Java classesthat can be created to extend the capabilities of MAF, such as providingadditional business logic for processing data returned from the server.MBeans are executed by the embedded Java support, and conform to theJavaME CDC specifications. Model includes the binding layer thatconnects the business logic components with the UI. In addition, thebinding layer provides the execution logic to invoke SOAP-based webservices. JDBC is an API that enables the model layer to access the datain the encrypted SQLite database through Create, Read, Update and Delete(“CRUD”) operations.

The device native container further includes Application Configurationwhich refers to services that allow application configurations to bedownloaded and refreshed, such as URL endpoints for a web service or aremote URL connection. Application configuration services download theconfiguration information from a WebDav-based server-side service.

The device native container further includes Credential Management,Single Sign-on (“SSO”), and Access Control. MAF handles userauthentication and credential management through the “Oracle AccessManagement Mobile and Social” (“OAMMS”) IDM SDKs. MAF applicationsperform offline authentication, meaning that when users log in to theapplication while connected, MAF maintains the username and passwordlocally on the device, allowing users to continue access to theapplication even if the connection to the authentication server becomesunavailable. MAF encrypts the locally stored user information as well asthe data stored in the local SQLite database. After authenticatingagainst the login server, a user can access all of the applicationfeatures secured by that connection. MAF also supports the concept ofaccess control by restricting access to application features (orspecific functions of application features) by applying user roles andprivileges. For remotely served Web content, MAF uses whitelists toensure that only the intended URIs can open within the applicationfeature's web view (and access the device features).

The device native container further includes Push Handler that enablesMAF applications to receive events from the iOS or Android notificationservers. The Java layer handles the notification processing.

In runtime architecture 400, resources that interact with the nativecontainer include an encrypted SQLite Database and device services. Theembedded SQLite database protects locally stored data and is called bythe model layer using JDBC. The MAF application generates thislightweight, cross-platform relational database. Because this databaseis encrypted, it secures data if the device is lost or stolen. Onlyusers who enter the correct user name and password can access the datain the local database. Device Services are services and features thatare native to the device and integrated into application featuresthrough the Cordova APIs.

In runtime architecture 400, the device native container enables accessto server-side resources such as Configuration Server, Server-GeneratedHTML, Apple Push Notification Service (“APNs”), Google Cloud Messaging(“GCM”), and SOAP Web services. Configuration Server is a WebDav-basedserver that hosts configuration files used by the applicationconfiguration services. Configuration Server is delivered as a referenceimplementation. Any common WebDav services hosted on a J2EE server canbe used for this purpose. Server-Generated HTML includes Web contenthosted on remote servers used for browser-based application features.APNs and GCM Push Services are the notification providers that sendnotification events to MAF applications. SOAP Web Services are remotelyhosted SOAP-based web services. These services are accessed through theJava layer. Application features authored in MAF AMX access SOAP-baseddata services through data controls.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a system 500 for developing mobileapplications in a mobile cloud infrastructure in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. In system 500, a user may use auser device 528 to develop and build applications in a cloudinfrastructure 506 via a Web based tool. In one embodiment, theapplications may be downloaded on a mobile device 526 over the air, thusobviating the need for an App store. The native applications talk tobackends 504 created in MCS 502. In one embodiment, MAF runtimearchitecture 400 of FIG. 4 may be used to deliver an application tomobile device 526. In one embodiment, a declarative syntax of anapplication is deployed on mobile device 526 over the air, and thedeclarative syntax is interpreted on mobile device 526 by MAF runtimearchitecture 400 of FIG. 4.

Cloud infrastructure 506 includes MCS 502 that provides an admin UI 516through which application development may be performed. MCS 502 furtherincludes production environments 512 and testing environments 514 inwhich a mobile application may be developed and tested, respectively.These environments provide production/testing functionality by talkingto corresponding backends 504 via connectors. An application is firstdeveloped in testing environments 514. Once published, the applicationmoves to production environments 512.

In one embodiment, a mobile application is developed by using userdevice 528 to communicate with MCS admin UI 516 (also referred to asportal) through a security layer 524. MCS admin UI 516 includes anapplication development server 518 that can be interfaced via MCS adminUI 516. An application that is developed in MCS admin UI 516 can be runon a browser of user device 528 or on mobile device 526 by communicatingwith production environments 512 and/or testing environments 514. In oneembodiment, when an application is deployed on mobile device 526, mobiledevice 526 communicates with testing environments 514. However, if theapplication is updated on mobile device 526, such updates are performedthrough MCS admin UI 516.

An application that is developed in system 500 may be built as a lightapplication or a heavy application. A heavy application is a fullapplication such as apps that are downloaded from an App store. A lightapplication is an application that is deployed as an added feature to analready deployed full application (i.e., a hosting application) such asan Oracle app. The hosting application acts as a container that holdsthe light applications. Both heavy and light applications can be furthercontainerized by a security container, as described herein withreference to FIG. 7.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of network components in a system 600 forbuilding mobile applications in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention. In system 600, the user interacts with an MCS websiteto initiates build requests. The mobile device communicates with the MCSPortal VM to perform an over the air install of native applications.This is in general a two part process including downloading a plist filethat describes the application as well as the location to download the.ipa file, and downloading the .ipa file.

The Public OHS/Webgate is a public facing Oracle HTTP Server (“OHS”)that directs traffic to the MCS Portal VM behind the firewall. It isalso responsible for authenticating the user and passing along the usercredentials to MCS Portal VM. Public OHS terminates the SSL connection,and port 443 is used for https.

MCS Portal VM is a standard WebLogic Server (“WLS”) application whosedata is backed by Schema as a Service, and its corresponding applicationdevelopment client is written on top of the Jet framework. This is asingle tenant and security is provided via OWSM. MCS Portal VM runs WLSin the trusted zone. It handles requests by the user and has aconnection to the schema service and the build server farm via BIG-IPappliance. It uses open port 80 (or equivalent) for http communicationto/from Public OHS and to the BIG-IP appliance, and from the individualservers in the server farm.

Schema Service stores application data, enterprise signing certificate,and provisioning profiles for tenant. It only interacts with the MCSPortal VM.

A load balancer such as BIG-IP Routes farm tasks to servers in a serverfarm (initially in a round-robin fashion). It uses open port 80 (orequivalent) and provides redundancy. It is connected to/from the MCSPortal VM and forwards requests to servers in the server farm.

The server farm includes a number (e.g., 20) of servers that handlebuild jobs. It is connected to a filer for storing application binaries(e.g., 5TB). Connections are handled via a local Tomcat instance runninglocally on server. Build tools and processes handle by native OSX calls.

Building an Application

In one embodiment, once a user has created an application and wishes toproduce a native binary, the user initiates build POST request on UI(e.g., at https://mcs-tenant-a.cloud.oracle.com/max/build). Payloadincludes the application id for the application. Public OHS/Webgatereceives the request and terminates the SSL, authenticates andauthorizes the user against OAM (assuming user is logged in), placesuser identity into http headers, and forwards this past the firewall tothe MCS Portal VM's WLS server (e.g., running athttp://mcs-tenant-a.internal/max/build).

MCS Portal VM receives the request and authorizes user for privilegesagainst requested application and queries out to Tenant Schema as aService for application data, tenant enterprise certificate, encryptedcert password, and tenant provisioning profile. Once Schema Servicereturns the requested items, MCS Portal VM creates a new entry in theBuildJobs table (via Schema Service) to record the attempt, and capturesthe primary key of this new record. MCS Portal VM also creates a newPOST request against the build farm's BIG-IP appliance (e.g., athttp://max-mini-farm.internal/build/initiate), passing in the threeparameters into the body, as well as a callback URL (which encodes theBuildJob record's primary key) for job completion. An example payloadis:

-   applicationData: (app data)-   signingCertificate: (cert)*-   signingPassword: (password)*-   provisioningProfile: (profile)-   callbackUrl:    http://mcs-tenant-a.internal:3000/maxbuild/complete?jobId=(BuildJobId)**

Certificate and password are created by user for this embodimentexclusively (i.e., are not shared with other services). Port 3000 is notaccessible publicly.

BIG-IP maintains a list of healthy servers in the server farm. This isdone via a health check that performs sanity checks every few minutes.It selects a server (e.g., via round robin when jobs are of equalcomplexity) from the healthy pool, and routes the job request to thatserver (e.g., http://mac-mini1.internal/build/initiate).

In one embodiment, a server in the server farm includes a Tomcat runningon the server. It receives request and starts an external process. Thisruns on an async servlet to prevent I/O blocking request thread pool.

When the process completes, Tomcat creates a POST request to thecallback URL in the request payload. The payload for this new requestincludes:

-   result: (success if successful, etc)-   binaryKey: (jobId)

MCS Portal VM receives the request and updates the given BuildJobsrecord's row with the binaryKey from the payload if the event wassuccessful. It also informs the client the job was completed (e.g., viapolling on 11g, push or async servlet with 12c planned), and produces aQR code with an encoded link (e.g.,https://mcs-tenant-a.cloud.oracle.com/max/native-application/(binaryKey)).

Installing an Application

In one embodiment, once the user scans the QR code on a mobile device,an over the air install is initiated. Scanning the QR code opens the URLencoded (e.g.,https://mcs-tenant-a.cloud.oracle.com/max/native-application/(binaryKey)).Public OHS/Webgate receives the request and terminates the SSL. Itauthenticates and authorizes the user against OAM (assuming the user islogged in), places user identity into http headers, and forwards thispast the firewall to the MCS Portal VM's WLS server (e.g., running athttp://mcs-tenant-a.internal/max/build).

MCS Portal VM receives the request and authorizes user for privilegesagainst requested application. It determines user-agent of requestingdevice, identifies the platform (e.g., iOS) and forwards to acorresponding URL (e.g.,https://mcs-tenant-a.cloud.oracle.com/max/native-application/plist/(binaryKey)).It also directs to Public OHS, which will in turn forward to MCS PortalVM to reauthorize (as performed during the build request describedherein). MCS Portal VM receives the request and generates a plist file(e.g., an iOS plist file) that includes application information for acorresponding platform (e.g., iPhone) as well as a link to the binary(e.g.,https://mcs-tenant-a.cloud.oracle.com/max/native-application/ios/(binaryKey)).

The device then prompts the user if they want to install theapplication. Assuming yes, the device follows the binary link. It alsodirects to Public OHS, which will in turn forward to MCS Portal VM toreauthorize (as performed during the build request described herein).MCS Portal VM receives the request and generates a new request to thebuild server farm (e.g., via:http://max-mini-farm.internal/download/ios/(binaryKey)). BIG-IP selectsa server in the server farm (e.g., via round robin) from the healthypool and routes the job request to that server (e.g.,http://mac-mini1.internal/download/ios/(binaryKey)). An applicationserver (e.g., a Tomcat) on that server receives the request, checks ifcontent exists, and streams the binary from the network (e.g.,Filer:/filer_mnt/generated_binaries/(binaryKey)/result.ipa). BIG-IPreturns the streamed response back to MCS Portal VM which receives theresponse and copies into its request's output stream to the device.Finally, the device receives the binaries and performs the install.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of mobile security suite components in anembodiment that uses security services provided by a mobile securitysuite 700 such as OMSS. OMSS components are distributed across thecorporate DMZ and the enterprise intranet (or corporate network), and asecurity container such as “Oracle Mobile Security Container” fromOracle Corp. is installed on the mobile device. The security containeris configured to hold “containerized” applications, e.g., applicationsthat have been securely linked to their specific container. The securitycontainer includes a secure browser, file manager, document editor, andan optional secure mobile mail manager. The secure mobile mail managerincludes personal information management (“PIM”) applications such as amail client, calendar, contacts, tasks, and notes synchronizing withcorporate mail servers via the “Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync” (“EAS”)protocol. Many applications such as “Oracle Business Intelligence”(“BI”), “Oracle Fusion Tap,” “Oracle Social Network,” “Oracle EnterpriseManager Cloud Control,” “Oracle WebCenter Spaces,” etc., and a broadrange of third-party enterprise applications can be containerized withthe security container. All data at rest inside containerizedapplications on a mobile device is encrypted. Encrypted data storageincludes database, file store, cache, and user preferences. In oneembodiment, data in transit through the AppTunnel is encrypted usingTLS/SSL with Federal Information Processing Standard (“FIPS”) approvedalgorithms.

When a Web browser or other client program makes an unauthenticatedrequest to a security access server such as “Oracle Mobile SecurityAccess Server” (“MSAS”) from Oracle Corp., the security access serverresponds with a redirect to the appropriate security container. Securitycontainers use a key hierarchy to protect data. All keys are derivedfrom user credentials that are never stored. The key hierarchy involvesmultiple keys to support different sensitivity of data. For example, aunique key is used for the user's authentication certificate, which isallowed to be open for a very short period of time. A different key isused for the browser cache, which must remain decrypted for an entiresession. The main security container distributes and manages keys forthe complete set of apps in the user's secure enterprise workspace.

The secure container has three distinctive benefits over current mobilevirtual private network (“VPN”) solutions: device trust vs. gateway,secure container password vs. device password, and secure containerAppTunnel vs. device-level VPN. OMSS extends a network's Kerberosauthentication trust directly to the user's device instead of stoppingat a gateway server sitting in the DMZ. OMSS is significantly moreefficient and secure than implementing “constrained delegation” offeredby VPN providers. A constrained delegation solution is not only lesssecure but also more cumbersome to set up and maintain.

Further, the tradeoff between usability and security is magnified whendealing with consumer devices and BYOD programs. Corporate IT requiresstrong passwords to protect corporate data on BYOD devices. Conversely,users want simple passwords—or preferably no device password at all—sothey can easily access social networks and other consumer applications.Requiring a device password is frustrating for users, as they areconstantly using the device for non-enterprise purposes that do notrequire enterprise authentication. Embodiments provide the necessarybalance between security and usability when dealing with BYOD programsby requiring a password only to access corporate applications.

Yet further, device-level VPNs provide a trusted, secure tunnel betweena user's device and the enterprise's network. However, device-level VPNsolutions are more appropriate for corporate-owned and secured endpointdevices such as laptops than for consumer mobile devices. Once amobile-device VPN tunnel is open to the network, any application on adevice has access to this secure tunnel. This is a huge security holeand a pathway to danger. With embodiments, however, the connection fromthe mobile device to the enterprise intranet exists only between thesecure container and enterprise servers.

MSAS is typically deployed in the corporate DMZ and multiple serverinstances can be deployed behind a load balancer for high availabilityand scalability. MSAS provides tunneled connections between the serverand containerized apps. MSAS brokers authentication (strongauthentication leverages HTTPS connections to “Oracle Access Manager”(“OAM”) or Kerberos connections to Kerberos Domain Controllers),authorizes, audits, and enables SSO for, and proxies requests to, theirdestination (resources in the corporate intranet). MSAS acts as theterminating end-point of the tunneled connections initiated by thesecurity container and containerized applications.

“Oracle API Gateway” (“OAG”) from Oracle Corp. and “Oracle Web ServicesManager” (“OWSM”) from Oracle Corp. add security, threat protection, andthrottling policies to an organization's REST API infrastructure. SSO issupported through OAuth, OAM tokens, Kerberos, and NT LAN Manager(“NTLM”). SAML is supported through OAM or Kerberos integration withSAML identity providers such as Oracle, CA, or Ping Identity. MSAS isintegrated with the OAM platform and supports the retrieval of OAM andOAuth tokens for SSO to backend resources protected by OAM, OAG, andOWSM. MSAS also supports “virtual smart card” authentication byperforming PKI authentication to Microsoft Active Directory protected bya PIN. Digital certificates are provisioned inside the securitycontainer app and only accessed after successful PIN validation. MSASintegration with OAM allows for context aware, risk based, step-upauthentication.

OWSM is a component of SOA Suite and addresses web-services-based SOAsecurity and management. The purpose of a SOA infrastructure is to allowconsumers to invoke services exposed by providers. OWSM offers asolution for policy management and security of such serviceinfrastructure. It provides visibility and control of the policiesthrough a centralized administration interface offered by “OracleEnterprise Manager” from Oracle Corp. OWSM allows companies to (1)centrally define and store declarative policies applied to the multipleweb services making up a SOA infrastructure, (2) locally enforcesecurity and management policies through configurable agents, and (3)monitor runtime security events such as failed authentication orauthorization. It also provides business agility to respond to securitythreats and security breaches by allowing policy changes to be enforcedin real time without the need to interrupt the running businessprocesses.

“Oracle Mobile Security Manager” (“MSM”) is a “WebLogic” managed serverrunning on either Oracle Linux or Red Hat Enterprise Linux. MSMintegrates with LDAP servers to provision users, assign and managepolicies for Mobile Device Management and for accessing the securitycontainer, manage the app catalog, control the remote lock or wipe ofthe device and secure workspace apps (wiping the container removes alldata and configuration for workspace apps), and set access controlpolicies for the security container. Polices are assigned to users byassociating policy templates with users and user groups. Availablepolicy controls include Device Restrictions, Authentication(authentication frequency, failed attempt threshold, PIN strength forPKI); Catalog (apps, URLs, file shares); Container/Apps (compromisedplatform, location services, offline status, inactivity duration, dataleak prevention (“DLP”)); Time Access (lock if outside time window); GeoAccess (lock if outside geo-fence (e.g., city, state, country)); Devices(whitelist specific device models, specify minimum OS level); Browser(disable address bar, disable download); File Browser (allow/disallow,disable download, specify file server URL); PIM (mail server URL);Provisioning (invite template, PKI details). If a user is in multiplegroups and has multiple policies, policy combinations are resolvedfollowing specific rules.

MSM maintains the EMM policies, which are then associated to one or moreuser groups in the directory. MSM does not perform any user or groupmanagement but leverages these identities and groups directly (nosynchronization) from the directory store. MSM uses APNS and CGN overHTTPS to send notifications to devices. MSM also exposes a WebDAVfront-end to internal CIFS/SMB-enabled File Systems or “MicrosoftSharePoint servers,” and enables browsing intranet file shares from theclient.

With more and more organizations establishing a presence on socialnetworks, IT departments need support for social identities, which relyon more lightweight security standards than enterprise identities butare better adapted to the requirements of social networks. For example,some websites may require users to provide access tokens obtained fromFacebook or Google in order to be authenticated to their services. OAMMSincludes a server that interfaces with existing backend identitymanagement infrastructures. The server acts as an intermediary betweensupported mobile client apps and backend identity services. Thisdecouples the client apps from the backend infrastructure so thatbackend infrastructure can be modified without having to update mobileclient programs. OAMMS includes the following functionality:

-   -   Delegated authorization leveraging the OAuth standard    -   Mobile Services connecting browser-based (HTML5) and native        mobile apps to the enterprise identity management        infrastructure, typically the “Oracle Access Management        platform.”    -   Internet Identity Services providing functionality that lets        OAMMS be used as the relying party when interacting with        popular, cloud-based identity authentication and authorization        services, such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.        By deploying OAMMS, the user is provided with multiple login        options without the need to implement access functionality for        each identity provider individually. User Profile Services        providing a REST interface for LDAP CRUD operations (customers        use the same REST interface to build graphical UIs for apps),        user self service functions such as self registration, profile        maintenance, password management, and account deletion. User        Profile Services are also available as an OAuth resource.    -   Access Management Integration Services for leveraging Oracle        Access Management through a runtime REST interface provided by        an agent SDK.

Mobile Composer

FIG. 8 is an illustration of mobile application development portal 800that may be included in application development framework 124 forcreating applications that use mobile cloud services 122 of cloudinfrastructure system 102 of system environment 100 of FIG. 1 in oneembodiment. FIG. 8 is merely illustrative of an embodiment orimplementation of mobile application development portal 800 and shouldnot limit the scope of any invention as recited in the claims. One ofordinary skill in the art may recognize through this disclosure and theteachings presented herein other variations, modifications, and/oralternatives to those embodiments or implementations illustrated in thefigures.

In this example, mobile application development portal 800 includeshardware and/or software elements that allow developers to create mobileapplications through application development framework 124 with accessto underlying components of mobile cloud services 122. Mobile backendservices module 810 provides developers with one or more tools, userinterfaces, wizards, etc. to design, test, implement, deploy, and manageany number or type of backend services. Some examples of backendservices include push notification services, storage services, usermanagement services, or the like. A developer can specify how mobileapplications access or utilize these backend services. Once backendservices are created, the backend services can be automaticallypresented to a developer during application creation allowing thedeveloper to select from a set of predetermined backend services forinclusion or use in a mobile application.

Application program interface module 820 provides developers with one ormore tools, user interfaces, wizards, etc. to design, test, implement,deploy, and manage application program interfaces (APIs) for use acrossmobile backend services. A developer can create one or more softwareintermediaries that make it possible for mobile applications to interactwith backend services deployed using mobile backend services module 810.In one example, a developer can create an implementation ofrepresentational state transfer (REST) that exposes specificfunctionality while protecting the rest of a backend service. In anotherexample, a developer can create API that exposes functionality of abackend service according to predetermined criteria, such as useridentity, mobile device type, data type, etc. Once APIs are created, theAPIs can be automatically presented to a developer during applicationcreation allowing the developer to select from a set of predeterminedAPIs for inclusion or use in a mobile application.

Connectors module 830 provides developers with one or more tools, userinterfaces, wizards, etc. to design, test, implement, deploy, and manageconnections with other databases, applications, cloud-based applicationsand services, or external APIs. A developer can create one or moreconnections that make it possible for mobile applications to interactwith other types of services, external applications or database,third-party APIs, or the like. A developer can specify that connectorsaccess these services using a variety of techniques, such as REST orsimply object access protocol (SOAP). Once connectors are created, theconnectors can be automatically presented to a developer duringapplication creation allowing the developer to select from a set ofpredetermined connectors for inclusion or use in a mobile application.

Storage module 840 provides developers with one or more tools, userinterfaces, wizards, etc. to design, test, implement, deploy, and managestorage used across mobile backend services. A developer can create oneor more storage collections that make it possible for mobileapplications to retrieve and store data with mobile backend services.User management module 850 provides developers with one or more tools,user interfaces, wizards, etc. to manage user access to mobile backendservices. A developer can create one or more user collections, userroles, user groups, or the like that make it possible for mobileapplications to comply with user access restrictions for mobile backendservices.

Application composer module 860 provides developers with one or moretools, user interfaces, wizards, etc. to design, test, implement,deploy, and manage mobile applications. Mobile applications can becreated for a variety of target platforms and devices, such as IOS,Android, Blackberry, or the like. In various embodiments, applicationcomposer module 860 provides a cloud-based rapid application developmentenvironment for building enterprise mobile applications. Applicationcomposer module 860 can package and deploy mobile applications as nativeapps. Application composer module 860 may be embodied as a multi-tenantapplication development environment hosted on Oracle Public Cloud,provided by Oracle of Redwood Shores, CA. Application composer module860 therefore can provide complete application lifecycle management in acloud-based service.

In certain embodiments, application composer module 860 providesfeatures applicable to a variety of user personas. For example, abusiness analyst may be a user who has good functional knowledge of atarget back-end system like customer relationship management (CRM),human capital management (HCM), or the like. The business analyst canrapidly develop mobile applications using application composer module860 through their understanding of business object relationships andtheir familiarity with general programming concepts. This type of useris typically comfortable using tools like CRM Application Composer,WebCenter Layout Composer, SOA Business Process Composer, SFDCApplication Configuration tool etc. enabling developers to efficientlycreate new mobile applications using application composer module 860.

In another example, an application developer can be a user that iscomfortable with writing code using IDEs like JDeveloper and usesapplication development frameworks like ADF, OAFwk, Spring, J2EE etc. toextend and customize enterprise applications. This type of user canapply these principles to efficiently create new mobile applicationsusing application composer module 860. In yet another example, anapplication administrator can be a user responsible for configuration,deployment, provisioning, patching and general maintenance ofapplications and application development environment. This type of usercan again apply these principles to efficiently create new mobileapplications using application composer module 860.

In certain embodiments, a customer of cloud infrastructure service 102of FIG. 1 utilizes application composer module 860 to build a custommobile application with on-premise eBusiness Suite (EBS) services as aback-end. A business analyst can expose mobile friendly REST APIs on theEBS backend using MCS 122. The business analyst can then build themobile application using components of mobile application developmentportal 800.

In some embodiments, a partner may build extensions to a CRM product andseek to create a custom mobile application with the extensions and CRMservices as backend. An application developer can extend the CRM withcustom objects in JCS and uses MCS 122 to expose mobile friendly APImash-up for CRM and Custom objects. A business analyst can then build amobile application using components of mobile application developmentportal 800 to incorporate the mash-up MCS API.

In further embodiments, a SIEBEL customer may build a custom mobileapplication using MCS API wrappers for SIEBEL backend and integrationwith LinkedIn. An application developer can build ADF Mobile LinkedInfeatures in JDev and deploy the features using components of mobileapplication development portal 800. A business analyst can then build amobile application using components of mobile application developmentportal 800 with the MCS API for SIEBEL and the Linked feature.

In certain embodiments, systems and methods are provided for buildingmobile application using pre-defined templates. The pre-definedtemplates allow use of MCS 122 as backend services. A service definitioncan be presented to a developer during application development allowingrapid connection between UI design and backend services.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a method for mobile application developmentin accordance with embodiments of the present invention. In oneembodiment, the functionality of the flow diagram of FIG. 9 isimplemented by software stored in memory or other computer readable ortangible medium, and executed by a processor. In other embodiments, thefunctionality may be performed by hardware (e.g., through the use of anapplication specific integrated circuit (“ASIC”), a programmable gatearray (“PGA”), a field programmable gate array (“FPGA”), etc.), or anycombination of hardware and software.

At 910 an application definition wizard is generated. An applicationdefinition wizard as used herein represents a set of one or more UIsthat guide a user during the definition process of a mobile applicationthat utilizes one or more pre-defined cloud-accessible services. Theapplication definition wizard can implement one or more workflows eachassociated with a part of the application definition process. In oneembodiment, the application definition wizard can prompt or otherwiseguide a user to specify application defaults, such as applicationidentifier prefixes, default icons, splash screens, defaultapplication/feature templates, setup enterprise provisioningprofile/keystore, or the like.

In certain embodiments, the application definition wizard can prompt orotherwise guide a user to specify an application name, a form factor(such as a phone or tablet device), a navigation type (e.g., nonemeaning a single feature or UI, as springboard, a navigation bar(“NavBar”), a Spring/Nav combo, or the like), and any applicationpreferences.

At 920 an application definition is received. As discussed herein, theapplication definition can include any information needed in order tocreate at least a minimally functional mobile application. At 930 amobile application is generated based on the application definition. Inone embodiment, the mobile application is represented in a simulator ofthe target device and can include a set of definitions that wheninterpreted, function as a compiled mobile application.

At 940 a feature selection wizard is generated. A feature selectionwizard as used herein represents a set of one or more UIs that guide auser during the development process of a mobile application thatutilizes one or more pre-defined cloud-accessible services. The featureselection wizard can implement one or more workflows each associatedwith a part of the application development process. In one embodiment,the feature selection wizard can prompt or otherwise guide a user tospecify features, UI modules, Business Object, or the like that can beused with the mobile application.

In certain embodiments, the feature selection wizard can prompt orotherwise guide a user to specify components of the first screen of themobile application. A component can be selected from a catalog ofcomponents.

In certain embodiments, the feature selection wizard can prompt orotherwise guide a user to specify components of other screens of themobile application. These other screens can form part of one or more UImodules. In certain embodiments, the feature selection wizard can promptor otherwise guide a user to specify one or more UI modules of themobile application. A UI module represents a processor, task, or flowthat can be performed with respect to the mobile application. A UImodule can be selected from a catalog of UI modules or a set oftemplates that provide cohesive collections of UI elements and pageflows. Some examples of UI modules are approval workflows, worker tasks,data entry tasks, reports builders, or the like. A template provides apre-set arrangement/biding of a set of UI elements so that a user onlyneeds to configure those UI elements and bind the template instead ofhaving to arrange and bind individual UI elements. In one embodiment, auser may contribute their own templates to the set of templatesavailable to another user. The user can configure or otherwise specify aseries of pages that represent the UI Module. For each page, the usercan be presented with a set of layout templates much like before. Eachlayout template might have several facets such as choosing a secondarytemplate.

In some embodiments, the feature selection wizard can prompt orotherwise guide a user to specify additional features of the mobileapplication, such as business objects previously defined. The user canspecify what resource of the backend service, API, or connector is to beused or otherwise associated with UI elements of each component, screen,UI module, or the like.

At 950 feature definitions are received, and at 960 a data bindingwizard is generated. A data binding wizard as used herein represents aset of one or more UIs or UI elements of an existing UI that guide auser during the data binding process of a mobile application thatutilizes one or more pre-defined cloud-accessible services. The databinding wizard can implement one or more workflows each associated witha part of the application development process. In one embodiment, thedata binding wizard can prompt or otherwise guide a user to specify howfeatures, screens, UI modules, etc., are bound to business objects,services, APIs, or the like that can be used with the mobileapplication. In certain embodiments, the data binding wizard can promptor otherwise guide a user to specify a business object of the mobileapplication. A business object can be selected from a catalog or set ofservices, APIs, etc. that are available to the mobile application.

At 970 data binding definitions are received. In various embodiments,steps 940-870 can be performed in series or in parallel. Individualsteps in 940-870 can be performed on individual element of a mobileapplication or to a group of elements. As illustrated, a user can repeatthe process of feature definition and data binding to create a mobileapplication. In various embodiments, a set of templates can be presentedto the developer. A template includes a set of cohesive user interfacecomponents. Rather than requiring the developer to bind data to eachindividual user interface elements, the developer can bind data to thetemplate and then map how the data is presented using the template.

At 980 the mobile application is deployed. The user can test theapplication using a testing application deployed on a target device, oras a native application deployed on a target device.

FIGS. 10-13 are illustrations of one or more user interfaces that may bepresented by the application definition wizard. In FIG. 10, userinterface 1000 includes user interface element 1010 where a developerspecifies a name for a new mobile application. User interface element1020 is associated with functionality that initiates the creation of thenew mobile application. FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate user interfaces 1100and 1200 that provide a developer with a workspace that may includelinks to applications previously created by the developer as well as oneor more options or user interface elements to create a new application.FIG. 13 illustrates user interface 1300 that can provide a developerwith a video tutorial or other help information to get the developerstarted with creating the new application.

FIGS. 14A and 14B illustrates user interface 1400 that provide adeveloper with a set of attributes 1410 that define the new mobileapplication. As shown in FIG. 14A, attributes 1410 include anapplication name, a description, a target device type (e.g., phone,tablet, etc.), an icon. Other attributes may be presented and collectedto form the application definition. FIG. 14B illustrates a set of valuesspecified for attributes 1410 in one embodiment.

In certain embodiments, the application definition wizard can prompt orotherwise guide a developer to specify a type of first screen for themobile application. In one aspect, a developer can be presented with aset of screen types, such as simple screen, a screen with top tabs, ascreen with bottom tabs, a screen with pagination, or the like. FIGS.15A and 15B illustrate user interface 1500 that provides a developerwith a set of screen types 1510 that define the first screen of the newmobile application. FIG. 15A illustrates a default selection of a firstscreen as a simple screen type. FIG. 15B illustrates that a developerhas selected a screen with top tabs.

In certain embodiments, the application definition wizard can prompt orotherwise guide a developer to specify details of the first screen ofthe mobile application. In one aspect, a developer can be presented witha set of user interface elements specific to the type of screen selectedpreviously. FIGS. 16A and 16B illustrate user interface 1600 thatprovides a developer with a set of user interface elements 1610 specificto the type of screen selected previously. FIG. 16A illustrates thatbased on the selection of the screen with top tabs, a developer ispresented with user interface elements 1610 to define the title of thescreen and the names or labels of any tabs. FIG. 16B illustrates thatthe developer has populated user interface elements 1610 with desiredinformation.

In certain embodiments, the application definition wizard can prompt orotherwise guide a developer to specify a design of the first screen ofthe mobile application. In one aspect, a developer can be presented witha set of screen designs specific to the type of screen selectedpreviously. Some examples of designs can include a blank design havingno screen items, a list-based design where screen items are arrangedaccording to a predefined list layout, a gallery-based design whereitems are arranged according to a predefined gallery layout, a map-baseddesign where screen items are arranged on a predefined map, or the like.FIGS. 17A and 17B illustrate user interface 1700 that provides adeveloper with a set of designs 1710 specific to the type of screenselected previously. FIG. 17A illustrates a default design of the toptab first screen as one having no additional elements (e.g., a blankcanvas to be populated later by the developer). FIG. 17B illustratesthat a developer has selected a list-based design.

In certain embodiments, the application definition wizard can prompt orotherwise guide a developer to finalize details of the new application.FIG. 18 illustrates user interface 1800 that provides a developer withone or more options for finalizing details of the new application. Incertain embodiments, the developer may be presented with a QR code thatinstalls a test application on the developer's device. This testapplication is different the newly created application, but can beupdated with the application information in order to test theapplication on the developer's device.

FIG. 19 is an illustration of user interface 1900 providing a catalog ofusable components in one embodiment. A developer can add components to ascreen using one or more gestures in one embodiment. For example, adeveloper can add a component from the catalog using a drag and dropgesture. FIG. 20 is an illustration of user interface 2000 where adeveloper can add components to a screen using one or more gestures inone embodiment. FIG. 21 is an illustration of user interface 2100 aftera developer has added a map component to a screen in one embodiment. Inthis example, guided customizer 2110 can be opened that allows thedeveloper to configure the added component.

FIG. 22 is an illustration of user interface 2200 providing a catalog ofservices in one embodiment. FIG. 23 is an illustration of user interface2200 where a developer can add create a UI module based on a selectedbusiness object in one embodiment. For example, a developer can add aWorkers Service business object and create a Worker UI module. FIG. 24is an illustration of user interface 2200 after a developer has added aUI module in one embodiment. As discussed above, the developer canspecify a template for one or more screens of pages of the UI module.Each template can drive what attributes of the selected business objectare available for binding to elements of the user interface. In thisexample, guided customizer 2410 can be opened that allows the developerto select a template.

Interactive Screenshots

It is often desired to show a user a screenshot of a mobile applicationscreen. Sometimes it is also desired that this screen be updated in realtime for limited purposes. For instance, a “New Screen Wizard” may allowa user to incrementally build up a mobile screen (i.e. configure what UImakes up the mobile screen) and configure parts of the UI.

There are two approaches that are prevalent here. Either the actualruntime of the device is run (to produce the screenshot) or a previouslyrecorded image capture of the screen (that resembles what the user wantsto see) is used. In the first method, this can be slow as the entireruntime has to be loaded to produce a screenshot. The second method isalso undesirable since it is a low fidelity approximation of what thescreen would look like.

In certain embodiments, application development framework 124 analyzesstatic and dynamic parts of a UI and separates these out into differentlayers. Static layers (portions of the UI that does not change based onuser configuration) can use previously recorded images. Dynamic layersuse an extremely limited portion of the runtime to generate those UIsections. For dynamic layers, the runtime can respond to userconfiguration to (in real time) update the UI based on just thatconfiguration. The layers can then composed on top each other to formthe entire screen shot. Thus, the screen shot has parts that are images,and parts that are on-the-fly rendered onto the UI.

In certain embodiments, application development framework 124 canaccomplish this in HTML by using separate CSS containers for each layer.FIG. 25 is a flow diagram of a method for determining a plurality ofuser interface layers of mobile applications in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. In one embodiment, thefunctionality of the flow diagram of FIG. 25 is implemented by softwarestored in memory or other computer readable or tangible medium, andexecuted by a processor. In other embodiments, the functionality may beperformed by hardware (e.g., through the use of an application specificintegrated circuit (“ASIC”), a programmable gate array (“PGA”), a fieldprogrammable gate array (“FPGA”), etc.), or any combination of hardwareand software.

In step 2510, a user interface of a mobile application is received. Theuser interface can include user interface elements such as icons,images, toolbars, widgets, forms, etc. The user interface can includeelements such as HTML elements, UI toolkit elements, and the like.

In step 2520, one or more portions of a user interface of the mobileapplication that do not change are determined. The one or more portionsof the use interface that do not change can include portions of a UIthat do not change based on user configuration. This can include staticimages, decorative elements, common text labels, notices, etc.

In step 2530, a first CSS container is generated for a first layer usingthe one or more portions of a user interface of the mobile applicationthat do not change. A container can allow a bunch of items to bepositioned using absolute-positioning. The collection of items can thenmove as a group. The first CSS container can include classes for commonmargins, common paddings, common vertical alignments, common horizontalalignments, etc. Some typical HTML container elements are div, header,footer, article, section, and the like.

In step 2540, one or more portions of the user interface of the mobileapplication that change are determined. The one or more portions of theuse interface that change can include portions of a UI that change basedon user configuration. This can include images, decorative elements,text labels, lists, maps, etc.

In step 2550, a second CSS container is generated for a second layerusing the one or more portions of a user interface of the mobileapplication that change. The second CSS container can include classesfor labels, form fields, tables, etc. that may change based on a user'sconfiguration or using data retrieved from a data source.

Accordingly, separate CSS containers can be determined for each layer.For layers that include static elements (i.e., elements that do notchange after application configuration), the layer (or individualelements) can contain a representative image. For layers that includedynamic elements (i.e., elements that change after applicationconfiguration), the layer can be rendered at runtime. Since these layersrepresent typically a smaller portion of the UI, the rendered layer canbe composited with the representative images of the static layers tobuild the user interface.

FIG. 26 is a flow diagram of method 2600 for generating high fidelityinteractive screenshots of mobile application in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. In one embodiment, thefunctionality of the flow diagram of FIG. 26 is implemented by softwarestored in memory or other computer readable or tangible medium, andexecuted by a processor. In other embodiments, the functionality may beperformed by hardware (e.g., through the use of an application specificintegrated circuit (“ASIC”), a programmable gate array (“PGA”), a fieldprogrammable gate array (“FPGA”), etc.), or any combination of hardwareand software.

In step 2610, information is received defining a user interface of amobile application. As discussed above, a developer can interact withapplication development framework 124 to create mobile applicationsusing declarative information. The declarative information configuresthe state, logic, actions, etc. of components added to the mobileapplications using application development framework 124.

In step 2620, a first image is determined that represents a portion of afirst layer of the user interface. The first layer can include staticlayers of the user interface meaning portions of the UI that do notchange based on the declarative information provided by the developer.Some user interface elements, toolbars, boarders, graphics, etc. orportions thereof can remain unchanged from application to applicationeven when their configurations change. The first image can be generatedby rending one or more screenshots associated with an applicationtemplate.

In step 2630, a portion of a second layer of the user interface isdetermined. The second layer can include dynamic layers of the userinterface meaning portions of the UI that do change based on thedeclarative information provided by the developer. In step 2640, asecond image of the portion of the second layer of the user interface isgenerated using a mobile application runtime.

In step 2650, an interactive preview of the user interface is generatedusing the first image and the second image. In certain embodiments,application development framework 124 can accomplish this in HTML byusing separate CSS containers for each layer. For each layer that isstatic, that layer can contain a representative image. For dynamiclayers, these can be backed by a client-side implementation that canrender and update that smaller portion of the UI. These layers are thenabsolutely positioned within a root component. That root component canthen be positioned and sized according to the needs of the tool.

In one aspect, application development framework 124 gives users highfidelity screen shots that can be updated in real time by the user.Since the parts that are configurable (dynamic) tend to be minor innature, algorithms for updating these limited parts can be quiteperformant whether executed on the mobile device or in the cloud. Thus,application development framework 124 gets the best features of thealternative approaches above: quick to render screenshots that showexactly how the screen will look like on a native mobile device, alongwith the ability to live edit the screenshot.

FIG. 27 is an illustration of user interface 2700 having compositedlayers in one embodiment. In this example, user interface 2700 includesa plurality of user interface elements such as title bar 2710, menu icon2720, title bar label 2730, tab 2740, tab label 2750, checkbox 2760, andcheckbox label 2770. User interface 2700 can be representative of anHTML interface utilizing the HTML markup language and CCS for styling UIelements. User interface 2700 can also be representative of otherinterfaces utilizing various UI toolkits to create, define, andconfigure any UI elements.

In this example, a determination can be made that title bar 2710, menuicon 2720, tab 2740, and checkbox 2760 do not change in response to adeveloper configuring a mobile application that includes user interface2700. For example, title bar 2710 may have a relatively static colorscheme, positioning, etc. that is easily represented by a pre-renderedimage. Menu icon 2720 may be represented by one or more images of menusor menu widgets. Tab 2740 may be represented by one or more images oftabs or tab widgets appropriate for a given UI tab. Checkbox 2760 may berepresented by one or more images of checkboxes or checkbox widgets.Some attributes of title bar 2710, menu icon 2720, tab 2740, andcheckbox 2760 may change in response to user configuration, such as sizeor color. However, for the most part, title bar 2710, menu icon 2720,tab 2740, and checkbox 2760 can be easily represented using one or moreprerecorded or predetermined images.

A determination can further be made that title bar label 2730, tab label2750, and checkbox label 2770 do change in response to the developerconfiguring the mobile application. For example, title bar label 2730may be specified by an attribute declared in metadata of the mobileapplication for user interface 2700. The developer can change the valueof the attribute from one application to the next. Tab label 2750 may bespecified by how data displayed in the tab is grouped or organized. Tablabel 2750 can be defined explicitly by the user or determined accordingto the information to be rendered or displayed in the tab. Checkboxlabel 2770 may be specified by individual elements within a list.Checkbox label 2770 can be defined explicitly by the user or determinedaccording to the information to be rendered or displayed in the list.Accordingly, some attributes of title bar label 2730, tab label 2750,and checkbox label 2770 change directly in response to the userconfiguration.

By using separate layers for generating an interactive screenshot of amobile application under development, application development framework124 gets the best features of the alternative approaches above: quick torender screenshots that show exactly how the screen will look like on anative mobile device, along with the ability to live edit thescreenshot. Thus, for each layer that is static, that layer can containa representative image. For dynamic layers, these can be backed byimplementations that can render and update that smaller portion of theUI. All the layers can then be absolutely positioned within a rootcomponent and positioned and sized according to the needs of the userinterface to generate the interactive user interface.

Conclusion

FIG. 28 is an illustration of user interface 2800 after a mobileapplication is available for deployment in one embodiment. In thisexample, a developer can select one or more mobile operating systems towhich the mobile application may be deployed. Deployment dialog 2810provides a set of deployment options. In various embodiments, selectionof a deployment option cause a QR code to be generated allowing a targetdevice to receive and install the mobile application in its nativeformat.

FIG. 29 is an illustration of user interface 2900 after a mobileapplication is available for deployment in one embodiment. In thisexample, dialog 2910 includes a QR code generated to triggerinstallation of the mobile application in its native format on variousdevices. FIG. 30 is an illustration of user interface 3000 depicting thenewly deployed mobile application in a developers workspace in oneembodiment. In this example, dialog 3010 allows the developer to performone or more actions with respect to the application project

FIG. 31 depicts a simplified diagram of distributed system 3100 forimplementing one of the embodiments. In the illustrated embodiment,distributed system 3100 includes one or more client computing devices3102, 3104, 3106, and 3108, which are configured to execute and operatea client application such as a web browser, proprietary client (e.g.,Oracle Forms), or the like over one or more network(s) 3110. Server 3112may be communicatively coupled with remote client computing devices3102, 3104, 3106, and 3108 via network 3110.

In various embodiments, server 3112 may be adapted to run one or moreservices or software applications provided by one or more of thecomponents of the system. In some embodiments, these services may beoffered as web-based or cloud services or under a Software as a Service(SaaS) model or a Platform as a Serves (PaaS) model to the users ofclient computing devices 3102, 3104, 3106, and/or 3108. Users operatingclient computing devices 3102, 3104, 3106, and/or 3108 may in turnutilize one or more client applications to interact with server 3112 toutilize the services provided by these components.

In the configuration depicted in FIG. 31, software components 3118,3120, and 3122 of system 3100 are shown as being implemented on server3112. In other embodiments, one or more of the components of system 3100and/or the services provided by these components may also be implementedby one or more of the client computing devices 3102, 3104, 3106, and/or3108. Users operating the client computing devices may then utilize oneor more client applications to use the services provided by thesecomponents. These components may be implemented in hardware, firmware,software, or combinations thereof. It should be appreciated that variousdifferent system configurations are possible, which may be differentfrom distributed system 3100. The embodiment shown in the figure is thusone example of a distributed system for implementing an embodimentsystem and is not intended to be limiting.

Client computing devices 3102, 3104, 3106, and/or 3108 may be portablehandheld devices (e.g., an iPhone®, cellular telephone, an iPad®,computing tablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA)) or wearabledevices (e.g., a Google Glass® head mounted display), running softwaresuch as Microsoft Windows Mobile®, and/or a variety of mobile operatingsystems such as iOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry 29, Palm OS, andthe like, and being Internet, e-mail, short message service (SMS),Blackberry®, or other communication protocol enabled. Client computingdevices 3102, 3104, 3106, and/or 3108 can be general purpose personalcomputers including, by way of example, personal computers and/or laptopcomputers running various versions of Microsoft Windows®, AppleMacintosh®, and/or Linux operating systems. Client computing devices3102, 3104, 3106, and/or 3108 can be workstation computers running anyof a variety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-like operatingsystems, including without limitation the variety of GNU/Linux operatingsystems, such as for example, Google Chrome OS. Alternatively, or inaddition, client computing devices 3102, 3104, 3106, and 3108 may be anyother electronic device, such as a thin-client computer, anInternet-enabled gaming system (e.g., a Microsoft Xbox gaming consolewith or without a Kinect® gesture input device), and/or a personalmessaging device, capable of communicating over network(s) 3110.

Although exemplary distributed system 3100 is shown with four clientcomputing devices, any number of client computing devices may besupported. Other devices, such as devices with sensors, etc., mayinteract with server 3112.

Network(s) 3110 in distributed system 3100 may be any type of networkfamiliar to those skilled in the art that can support datacommunications using any of a variety of commercially-availableprotocols, including without limitation TCP/IP (transmission controlprotocol/Internet protocol), SNA (systems network architecture), IPX(Internet packet exchange), AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way ofexample, network(s) 3110 can be a local area network (LAN), such as onebased on Ethernet, Token-Ring and/or the like. Network(s) 3110 can be awide-area network and the Internet. It can include a virtual network,including without limitation a virtual private network (VPN), anintranet, an extranet, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), aninfra-red network, a wireless network (e.g., a network operating underany of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics (IEEE) 802.11 suiteof protocols, Bluetooth®, and/or any other wireless protocol); and/orany combination of these and/or other networks.

Server 3112 may be composed of one or more general purpose computers,specialized server computers (including, by way of example, PC (personalcomputer) servers, UNIX® servers, mid-range servers, mainframecomputers, rack-mounted servers, etc.), server farms, server clusters,or any other appropriate arrangement and/or combination. In variousembodiments, server 3112 may be adapted to run one or more services orsoftware applications described in the foregoing disclosure. Forexample, server 3112 may correspond to a server for performingprocessing described above according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Server 3112 may run an operating system including any of those discussedabove, as well as any commercially available server operating system.Server 3112 may also run any of a variety of additional serverapplications and/or mid-tier applications, including HTTP (hypertexttransport protocol) servers, FTP (file transfer protocol) servers, CGI(common gateway interface) servers, JAVA® servers, database servers, andthe like. Exemplary database servers include without limitation thosecommercially available from Oracle, Microsoft, Sybase, IBM(International Business Machines), and the like.

In some implementations, server 3112 may include one or moreapplications to analyze and consolidate data feeds and/or event updatesreceived from users of client computing devices 3102, 3104, 3106, and3108. As an example, data feeds and/or event updates may include, butare not limited to, Twitter® feeds, Facebook® updates or real-timeupdates received from one or more third party information sources andcontinuous data streams, which may include real-time events related tosensor data applications, financial tickers, network performancemeasuring tools (e.g., network monitoring and traffic managementapplications), clickstream analysis tools, automobile trafficmonitoring, and the like. Server 3112 may also include one or moreapplications to display the data feeds and/or real-time events via oneor more display devices of client computing devices 3102, 3104, 3106,and 3108.

Distributed system 3100 may also include one or more databases 3114 and3116. Databases 3114 and 3116 may reside in a variety of locations. Byway of example, one or more of databases 3114 and 3116 may reside on anon-transitory storage medium local to (and/or resident in) server 3112.Alternatively, databases 3114 and 3116 may be remote from server 3112and in communication with server 3112 via a network-based or dedicatedconnection. In one set of embodiments, databases 3114 and 3116 mayreside in a storage-area network (SAN). Similarly, any necessary filesfor performing the functions attributed to server 3112 may be storedlocally on server 3112 and/or remotely, as appropriate. In one set ofembodiments, databases 3114 and 3116 may include relational databases,such as databases provided by Oracle, that are adapted to store, update,and retrieve data in response to SQL-formatted commands.

FIG. 32 illustrates an exemplary computer system 3200, in which variousembodiments of the present invention may be implemented. The system 3200may be used to implement any of the computer systems described above. Asshown in FIG. 32, computer system 3200 includes bus subsystem 3202 andprocessing unit 3204 that communicates with a number of peripheralsubsystems via bus subsystem 3202. These peripheral subsystems mayinclude processing acceleration unit 3206, I/O subsystem 3208, storagesubsystem 3218, and communications subsystem 3224. Storage subsystem3218 includes tangible computer-readable storage media 3222 and a systemmemory 3210.

Bus subsystem 3202 provides a mechanism for letting the variouscomponents and subsystems of computer system 3200 communicate with eachother as intended. Although bus subsystem 3202 is shown schematically asa single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may utilizemultiple buses. Bus subsystem 3202 may be any of several types of busstructures including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, and a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. Forexample, such architectures may include an Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, EnhancedISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) localbus, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, which can beimplemented as a Mezzanine bus manufactured to the IEEE P1386.1standard.

Processing unit 3204, which can be implemented as one or more integratedcircuits (e.g., a conventional microprocessor or microcontroller),controls the operation of computer system 3200. One or more processorsmay be included in processing unit 3204. These processors may includesingle core or multicore processors. In certain embodiments, processingunit 3204 may be implemented as one or more independent processing units3232 and/or 3234 with single or multicore processors included in eachprocessing unit. In other embodiments, processing unit 3204 may also beimplemented as a quad-core processing unit formed by integrating twodual-core processors into a single chip.

In various embodiments, processing unit 3204 can execute a variety ofprograms in response to program code and can maintain multipleconcurrently executing programs or processes. At any given time, some orall of the program code to be executed can be resident in processor(s)3204 and/or in storage subsystem 3218. Through suitable programming,processor(s) 3204 can provide various functionalities described above.Computer system 3200 may additionally include a processing accelerationunit 3206, which can include a digital signal processor (DSP), aspecial-purpose processor, and/or the like.

I/O subsystem 3208 may include user interface input devices and userinterface output devices. User interface input devices may include akeyboard, pointing devices such as a mouse or trackball, a touchpad ortouch screen incorporated into a display, a scroll wheel, a click wheel,a dial, a button, a switch, a keypad, audio input devices with voicecommand recognition systems, microphones, and other types of inputdevices. User interface input devices may include, for example, motionsensing and/or gesture recognition devices such as the Microsoft Kinect®motion sensor that enables users to control and interact with an inputdevice, such as the Microsoft Xbox® 360 game controller, through anatural user interface using gestures and spoken commands. Userinterface input devices may also include eye gesture recognition devicessuch as the Google Glass® blink detector that detects eye activity(e.g., ‘blinking’ while taking pictures and/or making a menu selection)from users and transforms the eye gestures as input into an input device(e.g., Google Glass®). Additionally, user interface input devices mayinclude voice recognition sensing devices that enable users to interactwith voice recognition systems (e.g., Siri® navigator), through voicecommands.

User interface input devices may also include, without limitation, threedimensional (3D) mice, joysticks or pointing sticks, gamepads andgraphic tablets, and audio/visual devices such as speakers, digitalcameras, digital camcorders, portable media players, webcams, imagescanners, fingerprint scanners, barcode reader 3D scanners, 3D printers,laser rangefinders, and eye gaze tracking devices. Additionally, userinterface input devices may include, for example, medical imaging inputdevices such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging,position emission tomography, medical ultrasonography devices. Userinterface input devices may also include, for example, audio inputdevices such as MIDI keyboards, digital musical instruments and thelike.

User interface output devices may include a display subsystem, indicatorlights, or non-visual displays such as audio output devices, etc. Thedisplay subsystem may be a cathode ray tube (CRT), a flat-panel device,such as that using a liquid crystal display (LCD) or plasma display, aprojection device, a touch screen, and the like. In general, use of theterm “output device” is intended to include all possible types ofdevices and mechanisms for outputting information from computer system3200 to a user or other computer. For example, user interface outputdevices may include, without limitation, a variety of display devicesthat visually convey text, graphics and audio/video information such asmonitors, printers, speakers, headphones, automotive navigation systems,plotters, voice output devices, and modems.

Computer system 3200 may comprise a storage subsystem 3218 thatcomprises software elements, shown as being currently located within asystem memory 3210. System memory 3210 may store program instructionsthat are loadable and executable on processing unit 3204, as well asdata generated during the execution of these programs.

Depending on the configuration and type of computer system 3200, systemmemory 3210 may be volatile (such as random access memory (RAM)) and/ornon-volatile (such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.) TheRAM typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediatelyaccessible to and/or presently being operated and executed by processingunit 3204. In some implementations, system memory 3210 may includemultiple different types of memory, such as static random access memory(SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM). In some implementations,a basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines thathelp to transfer information between elements within computer system3200, such as during start-up, may typically be stored in the ROM. Byway of example, and not limitation, system memory 3210 also illustratesapplication programs 3212, which may include client applications, Webbrowsers, mid-tier applications, relational database management systems(RDBMS), etc., program data 3214, and an operating system 3216. By wayof example, operating system 3216 may include various versions ofMicrosoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh®, and/or Linux operating systems, avariety of commercially-available UNIX® or UNIX-like operating systems(including without limitation the variety of GNU/Linux operatingsystems, the Google Chrome® OS, and the like) and/or mobile operatingsystems such as iOS, Windows® Phone, Android® OS, BlackBerry® 29 OS, andPalm® OS operating systems.

Storage subsystem 3218 may also provide a tangible computer-readablestorage medium for storing the basic programming and data constructsthat provide the functionality of some embodiments. Software (programs,code modules, instructions) that when executed by a processor providethe functionality described above may be stored in storage subsystem3218. These software modules or instructions may be executed byprocessing unit 3204. Storage subsystem 3218 may also provide arepository for storing data used in accordance with the presentinvention.

Storage subsystem 3200 may also include a computer-readable storagemedia reader 3220 that can further be connected to computer-readablestorage media 3222. Together and, optionally, in combination with systemmemory 3210, computer-readable storage media 3222 may comprehensivelyrepresent remote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plusstorage media for temporarily and/or more permanently containing,storing, transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information.

Computer-readable storage media 3222 containing code, or portions ofcode, can also include any appropriate media known or used in the art,including storage media and communication media, such as but not limitedto, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmissionof information. This can include tangible computer-readable storagemedia such as RAM, ROM, electronically erasable programmable ROM(EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digitalversatile disk (DVD), or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices,or other tangible computer readable media. This can also includenontangible computer-readable media, such as data signals, datatransmissions, or any other medium which can be used to transmit thedesired information and which can be accessed by computing system 3200.

By way of example, computer-readable storage media 3222 may include ahard disk drive that reads from or writes to non-removable, nonvolatilemagnetic media, a magnetic disk drive that reads from or writes to aremovable, nonvolatile magnetic disk, and an optical disk drive thatreads from or writes to a removable, nonvolatile optical disk such as aCD ROM, DVD, and Blu-Ray® disk, or other optical media.Computer-readable storage media 3222 may include, but is not limited to,Zip® drives, flash memory cards, universal serial bus (USB) flashdrives, secure digital (SD) cards, DVD disks, digital video tape, andthe like. Computer-readable storage media 3222 may also include,solid-state drives (SSD) based on non-volatile memory such asflash-memory based SSDs, enterprise flash drives, solid state ROM, andthe like, SSDs based on volatile memory such as solid state RAM, dynamicRAM, static RAM, DRAM-based SSDs, magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) SSDs, andhybrid SSDs that use a combination of DRAM and flash memory based SSDs.The disk drives and their associated computer-readable media may providenon-volatile storage of computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules, and other data for computer system 3200.

Communications subsystem 3224 provides an interface to other computersystems and networks. Communications subsystem 3224 serves as aninterface for receiving data from and transmitting data to other systemsfrom computer system 3200. For example, communications subsystem 3224may enable computer system 3200 to connect to one or more devices viathe Internet. In some embodiments communications subsystem 3224 caninclude radio frequency (RF) transceiver components for accessingwireless voice and/or data networks (e.g., using cellular telephonetechnology, advanced data network technology, such as 3G, 4G or EDGE(enhanced data rates for global evolution), WiFi (IEEE 802.11 familystandards, or other mobile communication technologies, or anycombination thereof), global positioning system (GPS) receivercomponents, and/or other components. In some embodiments communicationssubsystem 3224 can provide wired network connectivity (e.g., Ethernet)in addition to or instead of a wireless interface.

In some embodiments, communications subsystem 3224 may also receiveinput communication in the form of structured and/or unstructured datafeeds 3226, event streams 3228, event updates 3230, and the like onbehalf of one or more users who may use computer system 3200.

By way of example, communications subsystem 3224 may be configured toreceive data feeds 3226 in real-time from users of social networksand/or other communication services such as Twitter® feeds, Facebook®updates, web feeds such as Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds, and/orreal-time updates from one or more third party information sources.

Additionally, communications subsystem 3224 may also be configured toreceive data in the form of continuous data streams, which may includeevent streams 3228 of real-time events and/or event updates 3230, thatmay be continuous or unbounded in nature with no explicit end. Examplesof applications that generate continuous data may include, for example,sensor data applications, financial tickers, network performancemeasuring tools (e.g. network monitoring and traffic managementapplications), clickstream analysis tools, automobile trafficmonitoring, and the like.

Communications subsystem 3224 may also be configured to output thestructured and/or unstructured data feeds 3226, event streams 3228,event updates 3230, and the like to one or more databases that may be incommunication with one or more streaming data source computers coupledto computer system 3200.

Computer system 3200 can be one of various types, including a handheldportable device (e.g., an iPhone® cellular phone, an iPad® computingtablet, a PDA), a wearable device (e.g., a Google Glass® head mounteddisplay), a PC, a workstation, a mainframe, a kiosk, a server rack, orany other data processing system.

Due to the ever-changing nature of computers and networks, thedescription of computer system 3200 depicted in the figure is intendedonly as a specific example. Many other configurations having more orfewer components than the system depicted in the figure are possible.For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, firmware, software (includingapplets), or a combination. Further, connection to other computingdevices, such as network input/output devices, may be employed. Based onthe disclosure and teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skillin the art will appreciate other ways and/or methods to implement thevarious embodiments.

In the foregoing specification, aspects of the invention are describedwith reference to specific embodiments thereof, but those skilled in theart will recognize that the invention is not limited thereto. Variousfeatures and aspects of the above-described invention may be usedindividually or jointly. Further, embodiments can be utilized in anynumber of environments and applications beyond those described hereinwithout departing from the broader spirit and scope of thespecification. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to beregarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

Various embodiments of any of one or more inventions whose teachings maybe presented within this disclosure can be implemented in the form oflogic in software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof. Thelogic may be stored in or on a machine-accessible memory, amachine-readable article, a tangible computer-readable medium, acomputer-readable storage medium, or other computer/machine-readablemedia as a set of instructions adapted to direct a central processingunit (CPU or processor) of a logic machine to perform a set of stepsthat may be disclosed in various embodiments of an invention presentedwithin this disclosure. The logic may form part of a software program orcomputer program product as code modules become operational with aprocessor of a computer system or an information-processing device whenexecuted to perform a method or process in various embodiments of aninvention presented within this disclosure. Based on this disclosure andthe teachings provided herein, a person of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate other ways, variations, modifications, alternatives,and/or methods for implementing in software, firmware, hardware, orcombinations thereof any of the disclosed operations or functionalitiesof various embodiments of one or more of the presented inventions.

The disclosed examples, implementations, and various embodiments of anyone of those inventions whose teachings may be presented within thisdisclosure are merely illustrative to convey with reasonable clarity tothose skilled in the art the teachings of this disclosure. As theseimplementations and embodiments may be described with reference toexemplary illustrations or specific figures, various modifications oradaptations of the methods and/or specific structures described canbecome apparent to those skilled in the art. All such modifications,adaptations, or variations that rely upon this disclosure and theseteachings found herein, and through which the teachings have advancedthe art, are to be considered within the scope of the one or moreinventions whose teachings may be presented within this disclosure.Hence, the present descriptions and drawings should not be considered ina limiting sense, as it is understood that an invention presented withina disclosure is in no way limited to those embodiments specificallyillustrated.

Accordingly, the above description and any accompanying drawings,illustrations, and figures are intended to be illustrative but notrestrictive. The scope of any invention presented within this disclosureshould, therefore, be determined not with simple reference to the abovedescription and those embodiments shown in the figures, but insteadshould be determined with reference to the pending claims along withtheir full scope or equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, at a computerdevice, a user interface of a mobile application, wherein the userinterface includes user interface elements; determining, by thecomputing device, one or more portions of the user interface that do notchange, wherein the one or more portions of the use interface that donot change include elements of the user interface elements that do notchange based on user configuration; generating, by the computing device,a first container for a first layer using the one or more portions ofthe user interface that do not change, wherein the first containerincludes the elements of the user interface elements that do not changebased on the user configuration; determining, by the computing device,one or more portions of the user interface that do change, wherein theone or more portions of the use interface that do change includeelements of the user interface elements that do change based on the userconfiguration; generating, by the computing device, a second containerfor a second layer using the one or more portions of the user interfacethat do change, wherein the second container includes the elements ofthe user interface elements that do change based on the userconfiguration; and generating, by the computing device, a preview of theuser interface using the first container and the second container. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the first container and the secondcontainer are a cascading style sheet containers.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the first container includes the elements of the userinterface elements that do not change absolutely positioned within theuser interface.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second containerincludes elements of the user interface elements that do changeabsolutely positioned within the user interface.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the generating the preview of the user interface comprisesrendering an image representative of the user interface based on acombination of an image representative of the first layer and a runtimerendering of the second layer.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein theimage representative of the first layer is obtained from a cache.
 7. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the runtime rendering of the second layer isrendered in real time in response to changes in the user configuration.8. A non-transitory computer-readable memory storing a plurality ofinstructions executable by one or more processors, the plurality ofinstructions comprising instructions that when executed by the one ormore processors cause the one or more processors to perform processingcomprising: receiving a user interface of a mobile application, whereinthe user interface includes user interface elements; determining one ormore portions of the user interface that do not change, wherein the oneor more portions of the use interface that do not change includeelements of the user interface elements that do not change based on userconfiguration; generating a first container for a first layer using theone or more portions of the user interface that do not change, whereinthe first container includes the elements of the user interface elementsthat do not change based on the user configuration; determining one ormore portions of the user interface that do change, wherein the one ormore portions of the use interface that do change include elements ofthe user interface elements that do change based on the userconfiguration; generating a second container for a second layer usingthe one or more portions of the user interface that do change, whereinthe second container includes the elements of the user interfaceelements that do change based on the user configuration; and generatinga preview of the user interface using the first container and the secondcontainer.
 9. The non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 8,wherein the first container and the second container are a cascadingstyle sheet containers.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable memoryof claim 8, wherein the first container includes the elements of theuser interface elements that do not change absolutely positioned withinthe user interface.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable memory ofclaim 8, wherein the second container includes elements of the userinterface elements that do change absolutely positioned within the userinterface.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable memory of claim 8,wherein the generating the preview of the user interface comprisesrendering an image representative of the user interface based on acombination of an image representative of the first layer and a runtimerendering of the second layer.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readablememory of claim 12, wherein the image representative of the first layeris obtained from a cache.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readablememory of claim 12, wherein the runtime rendering of the second layer isrendered in real time in response to changes in the user configuration.15. A system comprising: one or more processors; a memory coupled to theone or more processors, the memory storing a plurality of instructionsexecutable by the one or more processors, the plurality of instructionscomprising instructions that when executed by the one or more processorscause the one or more processors to perform processing comprising:receiving a user interface of a mobile application, wherein the userinterface includes user interface elements; determining one or moreportions of the user interface that do not change, wherein the one ormore portions of the use interface that do not change include elementsof the user interface elements that do not change based on userconfiguration; generating a first container for a first layer using theone or more portions of the user interface that do not change, whereinthe first container includes the elements of the user interface elementsthat do not change based on the user configuration; determining one ormore portions of the user interface that do change, wherein the one ormore portions of the use interface that do change include elements ofthe user interface elements that do change based on the userconfiguration; generating a second container for a second layer usingthe one or more portions of the user interface that do change, whereinthe second container includes the elements of the user interfaceelements that do change based on the user configuration; and generatinga preview of the user interface using the first container and the secondcontainer.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first container andthe second container are a cascading style sheet containers.
 17. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the first container includes the elements ofthe user interface elements that do not change absolutely positionedwithin the user interface.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein thesecond container includes elements of the user interface elements thatdo change absolutely positioned within the user interface.
 19. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the generating the preview of the userinterface comprises rendering an image representative of the userinterface based on a combination of an image representative of the firstlayer and a runtime rendering of the second layer.
 20. The system ofclaim 19, wherein the image representative of the first layer isobtained from a cache, and the runtime rendering of the second layer isrendered in real time in response to changes in the user configuration.